NATHAN Cleverly could be the next undefeated Gwent fighter to tackle legendary American Bernard Hopkins, the Argus understands.

Unbeaten in 22 fights, Cleverly defended his WBO light heavyweight title for the first time on Saturday night at London’s O2 Arena, stopping Russian Aleksy Kuziemski in four rounds.

The Argus understands that privately Cleverly’s camp are hoping for a showdown with American icon Hopkins, 46, who beat Jean Pascal over the weekend to capture the WBC crown, with promoter Frank Warren admitting he sees Cleverly as being ready to tackle the biggest names in world boxing.

“Nathan’s got a lot of options,” he said.

“Tavoris Cloud, Chad Dawson, Hopkins, I put him up there with any of them and (domestic rival) Tony Bellew is in the mix as well.”

Hopkins has already expressed interest in another battle with Wales’ finest after being beaten by Joe Calzaghe in Las Vegas.

Warren has also vowed to bring big-time boxing to Wales with WBO world light heavyweight champion Cleverly desperate for a homecoming show, but admits he faces an almighty headache as to where to stage it.

Warren has targeted September to bring boxing back to the principality in what would be the biggest show since Joe Calzaghe fought Mikkel Kessler at the Millennium Stadium.

Cleverly has made no secret of his desperation to return to Wales, where he’s not fought since 2007 – on the undercard of Kessler v Calzaghe – and Warren wants to make it happen.

“Nathan is becoming a cockney, he loves jellied eels and he’s fought all his most significant fights in London in the past few years,” he said.

“We would love to go back to Wales and put on a homecoming show for Nathan and that is what he wants.

“But the difficulty I have is the CIA (now the Motorpoint Arena) only holds 5,000 and the Millennium Stadium is too big.”

The Argus understands that Cleverly’s camp would love a fight in either the Cardiff City or Swansea City football stadium, a possible middle ground between the smaller Motorpoint Arena and the imposingly big Millennium Stadium.

Cleverly has also vowed to continue to be one of the most aggressive champions in British boxing after the dramatic third round of his victory, where he was rattled by a left hook but recovered by firing back rather than covering up.

“That is my style, I am a boxer that loves to fight close and use my power and I will keep doing that,” he said.

“I didn’t want to call myself a world champion before I defended it successfully, but it’s a great feeling and I want to continue at the top for a long, long time.

“I would love to have my next defence in Wales because it’s been a long time – too long – since I fought there.”