Cleverly and Booth alliance can lead to Cruiserweight world title glory

Nathan Cleverly needs to be pushed out of his comfort zone if he is to become a Cruiserweight world champion, according to his father and long-time trainer Vince. 

The Welsh fighter has not returned to the ring since he lost his WBO light-heavyweight title to Sergey Kovalev in Cardiff last August.

The 26-year-old’s eagerly awaited return at Cruiserweight has been postponed three times because of injury but news of a link-up with David Haye’s trainer, Adam Booth, will be good news for Cleverly fans as he plots a route to the top of the division.

And Cleverly senior believes the link-up with Booth, who guided the Hayemaker to the undisputed Cruiserweight championship and a world heavyweight belt, is a good move for his son.

“Sometimes there comes a time in life where you need to try different things,” said the man who has trained the former world champion since he was 11-years-of-age.

“And Nathan has got to be taken out of his comfort zone.

“Because when he was home training with me, he wasn’t quite doing things correctly and he was in his comfort zone too much.”

Cleverly is 6/1 to become a world champion again in 2014 and with Booth in his corner he has an excellent chance of following in Haye’s footsteps to Cruiserweight glory.

Booth, who has acted as a health consultant to The Voice judge Kylie Minogue, has built a reputation as an excellent tactician and is renowned for getting fighters to follow rigorous game plans – something Cleverly, who is on at 1/12 not to win a world belt this year, did not do against Kovalev.

Booth masterminded Haye’s victory against the Beast From The East Nikolay Valuev as he became Britain’s first heavyweight world champion since Lennox Lewis.

And it is hard to imagine the trainer, who is nicknamed the Dark Lord, didn’t play a part as George Groves caused Carl Froch a huge amount of damage in his controversial defeat last November.

So, with the Caerphilly-born boxer’s talent, and new-found Cruiserweight power, plus the addition of the tactics of Booth, backing Cleverly to become a two-weight world champion by the end of 2014 can pay dividends.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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