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VICTORY: Nathan Cleverly enjoyed a routine win over Antonio Baker

NATHAN Cleverly produced arguably the best performance of his short career to utterly outclass American Antonio Baker, beating him by unanimous decision.

The 21-year-old Blackwood boy moved to 12-0 in front of a partisan crowd, at least a couple of thousand Calzaghe fans making the effort to arrive early in a show of support.

The last couple of weeks have been an experience of a lifetime for Cleverly, and it says everything about the camaraderie in the Calzaghe camp that Joe was at ringside to watch the fight.

Baker's record suggested he would be a durable opponent - having gone the distance with Jermain Taylor, Chad Dawson and Joey Spina - but Cleverly was dominant, taking the eight-rounder 80-72 on all three of the judges' - Ricardo Ocasio, Dalby Shirley and Glenn Trowbridge - scorecards.

This one can be put down as a tale of two Vegas - Las Vegas most certainly bringing out the best in Nathan.

Last time out, against Joey Vegas, many would have questioned Cleverly's decent reputation after a narrow points win in a haphazard showing.

This was Nathan's chance to shine, and boy, did he take it, working off a solid jab and delivering big, aggressive digs into the body - following Enzo Calzaghe's plan to the letter.

He explained: "This was a huge opportunity for me, fighting in Las Vegas, and I thought I did pretty well, though I wanted a knockout.

"I boxed the way Enzo Calzaghe wanted me to fight, I sussed the guy out and knew I had his number.

"This entire experience has been absolutely brilliant for me, a great learning curve.

"I would love to fight in America again."

Cleverly did largely execute Don Enzo's pre-fight masterplan, but as the rounds wore on he fought more and more on the inside and up close, clearly feeling he could end the fight within the distance.

A beautiful left-right combination from Cleverly rocked Baker in round two, but he took the chance for a breather, going down like a sack of spuds after a low blow from Cleverly, referee Jay Nade declining to deduct a point.

By round five Cleverly was like a streetwise alley-cat playing with a ball of wool, pawing Baker around and picking him off with jabs at will.

Even in the final round, where Baker piled in and tried to hurt Cleverly, Nathan was composed and disciplined, doing just enough to ensure his shutout decision.

l In the chief support, heavyweight Audley Harrison beat journeyman American Jason Barnett by knockout in the fifth round of their eight-rounder.

Harrison, the 2000 Olympic gold medallist, received a surprisingly good ovation from the largely British crowd pre-fight, but the cheers soon turned to jeers in an excruciatingly dull encounter.

12:31pm Monday 21st April 2008

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