Nathan Cleverly has retired from boxing after losing his WBA light-heavyweight title in Las Vegas.
The 30-year-old, who hails from Cefn Fforest, was fighting on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr’s hotly anticipated bout with Conor McGregor in Las Vegas on Saturday, August 26.
The former world champion was stopped in the fifth round by his Swedish opponent after a flurry of punches in that and the preceding round forced referee Tony Weeks to call time on the fight.
Cleverly looked well off the mark, and couldn’t contain the precision and pace of the left hand of Jack, who stepped up a weight class for the fight.
Questions were always going to be asked after such a damning loss, and the Welshman has called time on his career after a fourth defeat in 34.
On social media, Cleverly paid tribute to his opponent, writing: “Well done to the new champ. Thank you for the opportunity to fight on this event. Also, a massive shoutout to those who have supported me over the years.
“I’ve lived it and loved every second of this sport. A few too many miles on the clock. Time to say goodbye.
“Thank you and goodnight boxing.”
Cleverly had held the WBA title since beating Juergen Braehmer in October 2016, and previously won the interim WBO world light-heavyweight belt in 2010 after featuring on the undercard of his Newbridge stablemate, Joe Calzaghe’s 2008 clash with Bernard Hopkins.
He also went on to win Commonwealth and European titles.