Cleverly eases to points victory to retain his WBO title
Nathan Cleverly (26-0) retained his WBO light heavyweight title with a lop-sided points victory over Robin Krasniqi (39-3) at Wembley Arena on Saturday night.
The Judges scored it 120-108, 120-108 and 119-109 all in favour Cleverly.
Cleverly hurt his opponent on several ocasions but the plucky German dug in and deserved to hear the final bell.
A confident start by the 26-year-old Welshman suggested an early stoppage but Krasniqi rallied as Cleverly dropped his workrate.
Cleverly set the tone early on with long rights and Kosovo-born Krasniqi was momentarly stunned in the opening session.
The champion was caught by unnecessary shots in the mid-rounds but Krasniqi lacked the power to cause any damage and Cleverly continued to hunt his man down.
By the ninth Cleverly had resumed full control and for the first time it semmed as through Krasniqi might not last the distance.
Only the bell saved him in the 10th as Cleverly began to unload but the final two rounds were uneventful as it become clear he was unable to find a finsh.
The fifth title defence extended Cleverly's unbeaten record to 26 fights but the performance lacked dynamism against a durable yet limited opponent.
"He was hurt a lot of times but wasn't ready to go so I had to go back to plan A and box,"said Clevery. "I felt good in there and I'm pleased with the performance. It was a nice boxing display. He was tough."
In other notable fights on the bill, Liam Walsh (14-0) defeated former two-tme world featherweight champion Scott Harrison (27-3-2) on points by unanimous decision over 10 rounds in a lightweight contest and British Heavyweight Dereck Chisora (16-4) made a succesful comeback when he stopped Argentine Hector Alfredo Avila (20-13-1) in 9 rounds.