Boxing star Nathan Cleverly says he’ll be a proud man to lead out the Welsh rugby team on Saturday as they take on England in preparation for the World Cup later this year.

England held off a late fight back from Wales last week in Twickenham in the first World Cup warm up game, winning 23-19, but Wales are eager to respond at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

Organisers say they’re expecting a crowd of over 66,000 but it’ll be hard to find a happier man in attendance than recently crowned WBO light-heavyweight champion, Nathan Cleverly.

 “That will be a proud moment for me on Saturday. Leading the Welsh team out in the Millennium Stadium will be brilliant because the Welsh are so passionate about their rugby. There’s going to be a lot of fans there and leading the team out as world champion now will be special.  ”

The World Cup is the pinnacle of global rugby and Cleverly is confident that Wales can hold their own amongst the elite.

“The World Cup is a massive tournament; it has the best teams competing for the trophy so it’s very competitive and difficult. But we’re a good side, when we’ve got our heads on it we’ll be a match for anyone. The team isn’t lacking support; it has great support so hopefully we can put on a great show.”

Cleverly is no stranger to the Millennium Stadium having fought successfully there twice in 2007 on the under-card of Joe Calzaghe’s super shows. It was an experience Cleverly cherished and he’s keen to repeat the experience as he targets returning to the stadium as the main attraction in the near future.

“The Millennium Stadium is one of the best stadiums in the world and hopefully a place where I can have a great world title fight. I’ve fought there on the under-card of Joe Calzaghe’s world title fights and it was great, there was a real great atmosphere in the stadium.”

“I fought there when I was learning my trade as a professional fighter so it was early days but I built a lot of experience fighting in front of a big crowd at the Millennium Stadium and to fight there was awesome. My dream would be to come back there and fight as a world champion and a main event.”