Nathan Cleverly went into his fight with Sergey Kovalev with one eye on a potential unification clash with American Bernard Hopkins.

But after being crushed by the 30-year-old Russian inside four rounds, the Welshman has seemingly been left at a crossroads in his career, with the light-heavyweight revealing that he is considering his future in the sport.

It will likely be several weeks before we hear an update from the 26-year-old's camp, but should early retirement even be on Cleverly's mind at this stage of his career?

Less than a week ago, Cleverly was more than hopeful of stepping into the ring with Hopkins in the near future in what would have inevitably been the biggest fight of his short career.

But now that the '0' has been taken from his professional record and his dream of facing the American has ended, the mental fight seems to have been drained away from Cleverly as easily as the physical battle was lost in Cardiff on Saturday evening.

The nature of the loss was brutal, and Cleverly's pride would have taken a battering during the bout, which lasted less than 10 minutes, but it shouldn't be one that pushes him to the brink of retirement.

More has been made of Cleverly's failure rather than Kovalev's triumph, but the Russian should have been given a little more credit than he has received. After all, he was undefeated and had been taken past six rounds just three times in 21 matches.

Only time will tell how much of an impact Kovalev will make as the new WBO light-heavyweight champion, but the fact that he has a deal with American network HBO shows the faith that one of the biggest broadcasting names in boxing have in his ability.

It won't be much solace to Cleverly right now, but you get the impression that he feels as though he has lost to someone whom he should have brushed aside, but he is wrong.

If Kovalev gets through a mandatory defence, then he will most likely face Hopkins, and that will be deemed as a 50/50 bout. If Kovalev wins, then Cleverly's defeat doesn't look half as demoralising as it does to him right now.

All should not be lost for Cleverly because he is still ranked as number four in one of the world rankings, effectively leaving him two fights away from a world title clash.

If he continues his career, then he will be handed a couple of easy opponents to rebuild his shattered confidence, but after that, he isn't a million miles away from gaining his redemption.

After gaining a maths degree, it is easy to see that Cleverly is an intelligent man away from the ring and his education could make it easier for him to take his life in a different direction.

But one defeat in 27 should not bring an end to an otherwise successful career, and if Cleverly can apply his intelligence to his style and performance in the ring, then he won't be too far away from returning to the limelight.