NATHAN CLEVERLY feels a win over Andrzej Fonfara on October 16 will put him in a position to fight light-heavyweight titlists Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson.
The 28-year-old Welshman has traveled to the Pole’s adopted hometown, Chicago, in a bid to earn himself another chance at world honours, having previously held the WBO crown before losing it to Kovalev last year.
“If you beat Fonfara, you’re in the category with Stevenson and Kovalev, those are the fights you’re looking at. I would be happy to be in the mix with any of those guys,” he said.
“To get to where I want to be I have to put up with the pressure of fighting away from home and in my opponent’s hometown, I have to rise to that challenge if I want to be a champion.
“I want to get back to being a world champion and Fonfara is in my way.”
Cleverly also explained his reasoning for choosing to fight Fonfara rather than WBA ‘Regular’ world champion Juergen Braehmer in Germany.
“I had the chance to fight Juergen Braehmer in Germany, but then I got this great offer to fight Fonfara on this big platform in America and it was too big of an opportunity to turn down. I turned down the world title fight and I believe this is a bigger fight, it’s probably a more difficult fight.”
