Nathan Cleverly is out to put months of frustration behind him and be crowned light-heavyweight champion of the world.
Welshman can't wait for his world-title tilt
The waiting is finally over for Nathan Cleverly - and the unbeaten Welshman is counting down the days until he is crowned world champion.
Cleverly will box Juergen Braehmer for the WBO light-heavyweight title on May 21st, in front of a full house at the 02 Arena and live on
Sky Box Office HD.
And after months of uncertainty, wondering when his chance would come, the 24-year-old cannot wait to take his frustrations out on the German champion.
"This is the fight I've been chasing, the world title is what I want," he told
skysports.com.
"It's my ultimate dream, my ultimate ambition, to become world boxing champion and I'm not far from achieving that now.
"I was always confident this was going to happen at the end of the day - if I kept winning. I won the interim, I won the eliminator and I backed him into a corner really, he had no option but to fight me.
"I knew the match was going to be made, it was just a matter of time."
Cleverly has been knocking on the door for a tilt at the full world title since winning the European title 14 months ago.
His fight with Karo Murat in October was billed as an official eliminator by the WBO but despite coming through that, he was kept waiting again.
What he thought would be another eliminator in December ended up being for the interim title. A late change of opponent, with awkward Frenchman Nadjib Mohammedi coming in did little to help.
Cleverly admits he was far from his best that night, but believes it will stand him in good stead now that he finally gets the chance to tackle Braehmer for the full world title.
Momentum
"I was a little bit unmotivated for the fight, he said.
"It was a busy period for me but I kept in the gym and I think I just got a little bit stale. I was mentally unmotivated, physically a bit stale and the change of opponent at the last minute didn't help matters - and then in steps someone better.
"But I came through it and kept the momentum going and that's all that matters.
"That's what winners do, the real, true champions can, on a bad night, come out victorious. I've proved that and that will give me a confidence."
While Cleverly may have been frustrated, Braehmer has just been inactive.
Hardly helped by a court appearance for insulting and assaulting behaviour against a woman in a Shcwerin nightspot, having earlier punched an injured a bar owner, the German has not boxed since April 2010.
Repeating
He still has a 16-month sentence hanging over him and although he admits he is going in with "a bit of a nutter", Cleverly believes Braehmer is there for the taking.
"It should be an advantage, being out of action for a year is not ideal, but at the end of the day world champions are prepared for world-class opponents and regardless of whether he's fought for a long time, he's still a world champion," he said.
"That makes him dangerous. Plus he's got good pedigree; he holds wins over Ricky Hatton and Carl Froch in the amateurs, he was amateur world champion so it shows the quality he's got. And in the pro ranks he's repeating it again.
"He's a big puncher and like most of the Eastern European or German fighters, he has a rigid style which can be quite dangerous - but I know I can overcome him."
