Cleverly gets night off to good start for Team Calzaghe

Nathan Cleverly, the unbeaten super-middleweight and sparring partner of Joe Calzaghe, got the evening off to a good start as he recorded a one-sided victory over the game Antonio Baker at the Thomas & Mack Centre in Las Vegas.

As is his practice on his big nights in Wales, Calzaghe sat ringside to watch his young stablemate until the seventh round, even though his big fight against Bernard Hopkins was just two hours away.

Cleverly was on top from the start and looked particularly good when bashing away to the body, although he was sternly warned when landing a low punch in the second round.

But Baker, from North Carolina, who had won six of his 16 bouts going in to the bout, never looked likely to be stopped and even showed some spirited fighback at the end of the sixth round. Cleverly, who moved to 12-0, was awarded a unanimous decision all with scores of 80-72.