Saturday 17 May 2014 23:56, UK
Nathan Cleverly returned to the ring in style as he stopped Shawn Corbin in the second round of their cruiserweight clash in Cardiff.
The Welshman, making his debut at the 14 stone 4 pound limit, broke through with a heavy right uppercut in round two from which his Trinidadian opponent never recovered.
Two more right hands had Corbin staggering back into the ropes before Cleverly proceeding to rain down a series of power shots on him.
The referee stepped in with 40 seconds of the round remaining to halt the contest and allow Cleverly to improve his record to 27-1 with 13 knockouts and also win the WBA Inter-Continental cruiserweight title.
The 27-year-old lost his WBO light-heavyweight world title to fearsome Russian Sergey Kovalev nine months ago and is now looking to rebuild his career.
A rematch with British rival Tony Bellew, who was present at ringside, has been mooted for the end of the year and Cleverly says the two are indeed on a collision course.
“We’ve got respect for each other as fighters but the British public and the fight fans want to see grudge matches,” Cleverly told Sky Sports.
“Me and Bellew have got a perfect rivalry and we’re going to set this fight up nicely. When it happens, it’s going to be explosive."
Cleverly defeated Bellew in Liverpool by majority decision in 2011 and says he will not hesitate to go to the Merseyside’s fighter’s home town again.
He added: “If it means going to Liverpool then we’ll do it. We’ll speak with (promoter) Eddie (Hearn) and if there is a place in Wales then we’ll do it here.”
