By Jake Donovan

Nathan Cleverly knew from the moment he moved up to cruiserweight that he was going to be a fish out of water. After having suffered a 4th round knockout loss to Sergey Kovalev in Aug. ’13 to end his 2 ½-year stay as light heavyweight champion, however, his team felt the necessary step was to go one weight class higher in search of a big fight.

“When I moved to cruiserweight, it was a calculated gamble,” admitted Cleverly during a recent media conference call to otherwise discuss his Oct. 16th challenge versus Andrzej Fonfara in Chicago. “It was a slight risk. I lost my world title and was looking for the next big fight. I wanted to be available and Tony Bellew moving up in weight.”

The rematch with Bellew would become Cleverly’s “big fight” at cruiserweight, which came after two wins at the new weight class. The two had fought in Oct. ’11, with Cleverly managing a narrow points win in their furiously paced light heavyweight title fight, one of five successful defenses made and perhaps remaining as the biggest win of the Welshman’s 10-year career.

“We had a big rivalry in the United Kingdom,” Cleverly points out. “I did a lot of training, a lot of weight training to pump into the cruiserweight division. It was quite difficult putting on that weight. It was an enjoyable challenge. But against the cruiserweights, I wasn’t quite big enough.”

A split decision loss to Bellew last November was enough to convince the now-28 year old boxer to drop back down to light heavyweight.

His first fight back in his natural habitat came in May, scoring a quick hit of Tomas Man in London. He now travels to the United States for just the third time in his career, where awaiting him will be a Top 5 light heavyweight in Fonfara in their Spike TV-televised headliner. The fight takes place in Fonfara’s adopted hometown of Chicago, but Cleverly will feel right at home knowing he doesn’t have to carry around any additional weight on his 6’1½” frame.

“I didn't feel at sharp (at cruiserweight) as I do at light heavyweight,” Cleverly admits. “It was never an issue coming back down to light heavyweight. I can make the weight OK. It's my true weight.”

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of krikya360.com.

Twitter: @JakeNDaBox

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