SEETHING Vince Cleverly insists his son Nathan will take on undisputed super middleweight champion Carl Froch under any circumstances.
It’s a case of challenge accepted after Froch insisted the only way he’d meet the Cefn Fforest fighter would be at 168lbs, rather than him stepping up to the 175lb light heavyweight limit.
However, father and trainer Vince says his boy would be only too happy to make a one-time return to the super middleweight division in order to secure an all-British super fight with the Cobra, the undisputed super middleweight champion of the world after his thrilling weekend victory over Mikkel Kessler.
Froch took to the airwaves to call the undefeated Welshman a fighter “no one takes seriously”, and added that if Cleverly wanted to step down in weight he’d happily “end his career for him”.
However, furious trainer Vince is ready to call Froch’s bluff, insisting that Nathan would be willing and able to campaign at 168lbs to face Froch or Andre Ward.
He told the Argus: “Firstly I think it’s totally unnecessary for Froch to talk about Nathan the way he has, he’s the biggest name in British boxing and he should be above that kind of thing.
“But if that’s the way he looks at it, that he’d only fight Nathan at super middleweight, then our response is done, he’s got himself a deal and we’ll very happily accept that challenge.
“It would be a one-time thing, Nathan would bully Carl at super middleweight and for one fight we’d be happy to step down a weight.
“People throw all sorts of accusations at Nathan about not taking the big fights, but we don’t make the fights. Nathan is desperate for the biggest names out there. We even contacted Frank Warren (Cleverly’s promoter) about challenging Andre Ward.
“So if Carl thinks we wouldn’t consider a fight at 168, he’s dead wrong.”
Cleverly Sr believes Froch to be the current top name in British boxing, but feels he should show his son the same level of respect he would any other contender.
“I hear Carl is a good guy but his comments about Nathan are constantly negative and ignorant and I don’t understand why,” he said.
“What is the need to keep hammering a fellow world champion from the UK?
“Why is he so affronted that Nathan wants to fight the biggest names possible in the biggest fights? It’s a compliment to Carl that he’s clearly one of the biggest names around at the moment.
“Nathan is willing to fight absolutely anyone and in his mid-20s he’s already defended a world title four times and is undefeated. What had Carl Froch achieved by his mid-20s? He used to call Joe Calzaghe out all the time, but apparently he’s forgotten all about that.”
Vince doesn’t feel Froch could back up his claims of ending his son’s career.
“I don’t rate him as highly as most, even though I was impressed by him on Saturday,” he said.
“You’d certainly never be wary about how to prepare to fight him, that’s for sure.
“What’s he going to do? Fight toe-to-toe and make it a war, it’s his only tactic. Can you hurt him? Of course, because his defence is incredibly loose for someone at that level.
“Froch says Nathan hasn’t earned a fight with him, but that’s rubbish.
“Karo Murat, a guy Nathan destroyed, is fighting Bernard Hopkins, so fair doesn’t even seem to come into it.”
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