CEFN Fforest fighter Nathan Cleverly insists he’s happy to be out of the spotlight ahead of a low key return to the ring on Saturday night, writes Michael Pearlman.

The 28-year old former WBO light heavyweight world champion features on the undercard of Saturday’s star-studded ‘Rule Britannia’ show which features three world title fights.

However, as Cleverly chases a return to the limelight and a proposed crack at Juergen Braehmer’s IBF world title in September, he’s set for a win-at-all-cost battle with Tomas Man, a floater contest likely to be witnessed by hundreds, rather than thousands, in the 02 on Saturday.

Cleverly hasn’t fought since hated rival Tony Bellew ended his ill-fated experiment at cruiserweight in November via split decision, with Cleverly now set for a night with far less scrutiny.

Speaking of the situation, Cleverly told Boxingwales.com: “I’m enjoying just going under the radar; I’ve got to be honest. It’s nice to have a breather and slip under the radar with no major media attention. Not many people knew I was on the bill, it’s not much pressure and I don’t feel so mentally fatigued.

“I don’t regret it [attempting cruiserweight]. It was a calculated gamble. I enjoyed the process and training, doing the weights and looking the part. No regrets, I didn’t get hurt and I was fighting bigger guys, I came through it unscathed.

“Until the last fight, it was enjoyable. I learned valuable lessons and found out I wasn’t a true cruiserweight. I’m glad I’ve experienced it and found that out, I’ve no regrets about that move and we go on to the next challenge.”

Cleverly feels he’s progressed well in moving back down to light heavy.

“It’s been good, I’ve felt sharp and my weights come off nicely. I feel strong at the weight and I’ve been able to train well. It’ll be nice to get back there. I’m enjoying the adventure of going back to my old weight, getting it restarted,” he said.

“I sit back and look at what I achieved in the light-heavyweight division in the past; it gives me goose bumps sometimes. I get excited and I want to do it all again, I’m young enough and I’ve learned a lot from my old chapters and I can use it in my next mission.

“There’s no major changes, it’s all kind of a similar to routine to what I was doing back then. Ultimately, my first run at light-heavyweight was an unbelievably exciting one. So, there’s no dramatic change to what I was doing when I was in form. There’s been a lot of repetition with a few minor tweaks here and there in my training, lifestyle and weight making. Let’s hope it can take me to become two-weight [correction: time] world champion.”

“It’s important that in this tune up fight, I make sure I’m good at the weight and I’m strong at it. It’s about getting the cobwebs off; I’ve been out of the ring for six months. It’s an important fight for my assault on the world stage, I need this one just to get my timing and make sure the weight is done properly.”