Cleverly eyes Hopkins

Welsh fighter would love to take on legendary veteran



Nathan Cleverly has his sights set on a "special" unification showdown with legendary veteran Bernard Hopkins this summer.

The unbeaten Welshman will defend his WBO light-heavyweight title against Kosovan challenger Robin Krasniqi at London's historic Royal Albert Hall on April 28, barely two months after soundly thrashing American Tommy Karpency in Cardiff.The Krasniqi fight will be Cleverly's fourth defence of the belt he inherited last year and the Cefn Forest fighter, whose record reads 24-0 with 11 knockouts, believes he is ready to make the step up from 'alphabet' title holder to unified champion.He added: "It's definitely a case of getting the successful defence done on April 28 and then we can look for a big showdown in the summer in a big unification fight, in Wales, hopefully, against one of the American guys."That is the ambition, the goal."A fight between Cleverly and veteran superstar Hopkins has gradually moved closer to becoming a reality, with the fighters' promoters recently strengthening their working relationship.It is a match-up Cleverly is desperate to secure, with his fight against Krasniqi (37-2, 13KOs) on the same night as WBC champion Hopkins' rematch with Chad Dawson.

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