• Super-middleweight

Warren expects Froch to swerve Cleverly chance

ESPN staff
December 30, 2012

Boxing promoter Frank Warren expects super-middleweight world champion Carl Froch to swerve the chance to face his light-heavyweight counterpart Nathan Cleverly in a blockbuster British fight in 2013.

Froch has a potentially defining year ahead of him, with much-vaunted rematches against Andre Ward and Mikkel Kessler believed to be in the pipeline.

But Warren, who promotes Cleverly, believes a fight between the two Brits would be more lucrative than at least one of those contests - although he does not expect Froch to take on the challenge of moving up a weight class.

"Next year, IBF super-middle champ Froch is expected to get an opportunity to avenge his April 2010 loss to WBA titlist Mikkel Kessler in the UK," Warren said, in his column for The Sun. "That's a decent match but a far better one would be for 'The Cobra' to step up to 175lbs to challenge Cleverly.

"My guess is he'll swerve the challenge."

Warren is hopeful 2013 will prove more productive for Cleverly than 2012, which saw the Welshman fight a string of lesser names as the big guns eluded him. With a mandatory defence against Robin Krasniqi to overcome first, Warren then hopes to deliver some key lucrative bouts for his man.

"I'll be doing my utmost to deliver the Welshman a unification fight against Kazakhstan's WBA belt holder Beibut Shumenov, WBC king 'Bad Chad' Dawson from Connecticut or the victor of the pending IBF showdown between Tavoris Cloud and Bernard Hopkins," he said.

"Nathan is more than ready to test himself against any of them."

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