The Malawi-born South African had hoped to beat Cleverly to a shot at Juergen Braehmer last month until the German ultimately chose a rematch with Eduard Gutknecht and won via a unanimous decision.
Since then, Cleverly and his promoter Eddie Hearn have announced their intention to secure Braehmer next despite coming off a loss against rugged Pole Andrzej Fonfara last October.
As Chilemba is also on the comeback trail following a defeat to Eleider Alvarez around the same time, the ‘Golden Boy’ believes the pair should trade blows first to see who deserves the chance to face the veteran champion.
“I definitely would like a shot at Cleverly as he is one of the top ranked fighters and a good fighter,” Chilemba exclusively told World Boxing News.
“I think before he thinks of Braehmer’s WBA title he should dance with me as I was also targeting the same belt as him. The best out of us, in other words – the winner, then deserves a title shot.
“I hope he, his team and Main Event make this fight happen soon,” he added.
Chilemba, 28, seems all set to appear on the undercard of Sergey Kovalev’s scheduled summer title defence should a fight with any of the top contenders fail to materialize as the former IBO belt holder plots a course to world title.
Stablemate Sullivan Barrera could be an option should the Cuban fail to inflict a first loss on Andre Ward next, whilst the likes of Jean Pascal and Fonfara could also be options for Chilemba in June.
