Nathan Cleverly added the British light-heavyweight title to his Commonwealth crown against Danny McIntosh on Saturday night.
Promising youngster continues his rise with seventh round TKO
Nathan Cleverly added the British light-heavyweight title to his Commonwealth crown with a consummate performance against Danny McIntosh on Saturday night.
There are high hopes for the 22-year-old Welshman, who has enjoyed a perfect start to his fledgling career so far, and he did not disappoint at Bethnal Green's York Hall.
Heavy body shots interspersed with a couple of flush rights and lefts to the head scored two knockdowns in the second round and, despite beating the count on both occasions, McIntosh was down again in the third.
Again the Norwich slugger survived, but fatigue eventually took its toll as a flurry of punches in the seventh forced referee Howard John Foster to step in and hand Cleverly the technical knock out (TKO) victory.
Unstoppable
Cleverly told
ITV 4 afterwards: "I've been waiting a long time for this. I picked up the Commonwealth belt first by beating Tony Oakey - a top light-heavyweight in Great Britain - and it was only a matter of time before I picked up the Lonsdale belt.
"To keep the belt, I've actually got to defend it three times, but if a world title comes along I'm going to step up and take that world title. I feel unstoppable at the moment.
"Credit to McIntosh - he came in fired up and made it exciting for the fans. But I was waiting for this fight to prove my power. People underestimated my power and I think I proved them wrong tonight.
"I'm an experienced lad for 22 and nothing fazes me. I'll take on anybody. I proved tonight that I can trade with a proven puncher. I've got the heart. I've got the spirit. I've got the belief and I've got the boxing ability to take me all the way to the top."
Meanwhile, British heavyweight hope Tyson Fury maintained his perfect record with a third round TKO of Ukrainian Aleksandrs Selezens.
Fury never looked in any trouble in the bout and finished his portly opponent with a series of body shots, but he will be made to work much harder when challenging John McDermott for the English heavyweight title in November.
