Cleverly turns his thoughts on Oakey

For years students have been wracking their brains for the perfect excuse to avoid handing in their coursework.A recent survey showed that "My dog ate it" is the all-time classic - but now boxing brainbox Nathan Cleverly has one to trump even that. He won't be attending lectures at Cardiff University next Friday - because he is challenging for the Commonwealth light-heavyweight against Tony Oakey at the Everton Park Sports Centre. And fortunately for the 21-year-old maths student, his lecturers are understanding when it comes to him skipping lessons. "I suppose you don't get many students who are professional boxers, so there have been a few raised eyebrows in the past," said undefeated Cleverly, who has just begun a new academic year. "But I've got the full backing of everyone here, and have even been able to extend the length of my course from three years to four years to enable me to fit my boxing in around it."Obviously when I'm training for a fight I can't dedicate as much time to my studies, but I've always got my nose in one of my textbooks, even when I'm at the gym. "In fact sometimes I go to bed dreaming about my next fight - and wake up thinking about the latest equation I've got to solve for my degree." And Cleverly believes he has done his sums right for the Oakey fight, which will see him make his championship debut at light-heavyweight. "Some people might see it as a risky fight for someone at this stage of my career, but I'm so confident that I'll beat Oakey and show everyone what I can do," added the Welshman."I might not be able to attend all my lecturers at the moment, but I've certainly done my homework on Oakey, and I know just how to exploit his weaknesses."