BULLISH Nathan Cleverly believes he’ll finally get his wish of a showdown with Bern-ard Hopkins, if he can beat a man he rates as superior to the legendary American.

Five-weight world champion Hopkins, currently the IBF light heavyweight king, is said to be seeking some final pay days in the twilight of his career, now 48-years old and still the biggest name in the division.

WBO champion Cleverly is desperate to face the Phila-delphian and is adamant that success in his Cardiff showdown with the undefeated Sergey Kovalev on August 17 will put him in the box seat.

The fight is being televised in the US on HBO and Cleverly is sure he’ll catch the eye, because he rates the big-hitting Russian as Hopkins’ superior.

“Kovalev comes with two things, a big hype about him and a great bang, he’s such a hard hitter, it’s a great fight,” Cleverly told the Argus.

“Kovalev is tougher than Hopkins, it’s a harder fight.

“Maybe he’s not technically as tricky as Hopkins, but his fighting ability, his rawness, Kovalev’s a much harder fight for me.

“He lets his hands go and throws a lot of hard punches, he comes to hurt you and to stop you. That’s his mission.

“This guy is the real deal, he’s a fighter giving me the opportunity to impress on American TV. He’ll bring out the best in me with his style and it’ll be a great TV fight.”

Cleverly, however, has warned Hopkins that time is running out for the pair of them to fight with the Cardiff University graduate ready to take on the biggest names in the division.

“Firstly, I do think the Hopkins fight will happen if I beat Kovalev, because Kovalev is the mandatory IBF (number one) contender, so hopefully I’d take that spot with American TV on my side. It would send him a statement, he’s had his acid tests in the past, but this is mine, it’s my opportunity to make a statement.

“The division is exciting, it’s wide open with new champions on board and potentially Andre Ward stepping up. There are a lot of good fights to be made and if Hopkins wants the big pay day it’ll have to be soon.

“He’s looking for one big pay day, whether it’s against me, who knows. I’ve put my name out there and if I win this fight I should jump to the front of the queue.

“If not, there is a lot of big fights to be made.”

However, Cleverly is adamant he won’t be facing super middleweight king Carl Froch, the pair having had a much publicised spat recently. “I made it clear I’d have loved that fight but he’s more interested in fighting guys coming up in weight rather than someone naturally bigger like me.”