Frazer Clarke: “I have a lot of people to prove wrong.”

Frazer Clarke: “I have a lot of people to prove wrong.”

“I can’t wait to get back out there,” the opening words of Frazer Clarke as we connected over Zoom.

Clarke hits the comeback trail this weekend in Birmingham. The tough Ghanaian Ebenezer Tetteh, who last time out gave Dillian Whyte a very difficult night indeed, will welcome Clarke back to combative action.

We haven’t seen Clarke inside a boxing ring since the night Fabio Wardley took away his unbeaten record in such devastating fashion in Riyadh last October. An opening round defeat that was so far removed from their titanic back-and-forth war at the O2 Arena in London.

“First and foremost, I am just gutted,” Clarke says of that loss to Wardley. “I felt great; I had worked so hard to get in such good condition. On reflection, it was just a nightmare result. You try and get your head around it. I got hit early with a good shot, and it just scrambled my brain. I tried my best to fight back, but from that first shot that hit me on the top of my head, that was it, really. I was really overthinking it at the time, but now the more I think about it, it’s just one of those things that happens.

“The last thing I remember was looking over my shoulder and seeing the referee half indicate he was going to come between us, and then he stopped, and then I got hit with another shot. But I’m not here to blame anyone. The more I look back on it, the more I think I should have been stronger in the clinch and not got pushed back onto the ropes. But I hold my hands up; I am just gutted. But I am a proper fighter, and I will come again.”

The manner of the defeat left many saying Clarke should retire. But the former Olympic medallist never had any thoughts of walking away. “I never thought my career was over. A lot of people in the industry said I shouldn’t fight again. But those people and I are very different. We all go on about safety and human well-being, and we should, but I know what I am getting into. I knew what I was getting into all those years ago. I love what I do, and I still feel so good. At the end of the day, there was no damage to my brain, and it was an injury that I had before in the amateurs. It was nothing new to me; I had experienced that before.”

“I am definitely using it as motivation,” Clarke adds. “Fuel to the fire and all that. It shouldn’t have happened, but it did. It has definitely motivated me, and not for the first time in my career, I have a lot of people to prove wrong.

“People need to remember that was just my 10th professional fight. People say I lost at British level. But if I’m honest, Fabio and I are past British level; we showed that in the first fight. I am in a sport where you can sit and defend yourself all day long, but the only thing I can do is get back in there and get fighting again.”

Clarke knows a third fight with his great rival isn’t on the horizon. At least for now, his great rival has moved on, and Clarke knows he has to work his way back up. But he still sees their rivalry as unfinished business.

“I would love to fight Fabio again,” Clarke says. “I don’t mean immediately because you have to earn your stripes in this game. But if I get a couple of wins, and maybe Fabio steps up to world level, and if he doesn’t get the win, then I think people would like to see us fight again. One way or another, it is always dramatic when we fight each other. But let’s take it one step at a time and see what happens in my immediate future.”

Clarke will take those first tentative steps back on the comeback trail against Tetteh this Sunday. A sensible and worthwhile test that should ease Clarke back into that all-so-important win column.

A victory over the twice-beaten Ghanaian could set Frazer up for another big all-British clash later this year. “There are some good names on the domestic scene,” Clarke said of what could be next. “David Adeleye would be a good fight for me. There was a lot of talk about me fighting Johnny Fisher. But you saw what happened with Dave Allen. I beat Dave Allen with not much training behind me. I was injured for most of that training camp, but I still took the fight. But I think we will get this weekend’s fight out of the way first and then see what opportunities become available.”       

Frazer Clarke seems to be in a good place. The 33-year-old is looking ahead and not back. Fighters are written off far too easily. One defeat shouldn’t be the end, and Clarke competes in a division where you are only one win, one punch, even, away from redemption and another big fight. A win over Tetteh will exercise any lingering demons and put him right back in position for far more meaningful fights later this year.

“In a year’s time, I want to be right back in the thick of it,” Clarke tells me. “With Riyadh Season, there are some huge fights out there, and you have to be ready to take them.”

Clarke is a big admirer of Joseph Parker and was in camp with Parker at the time of this interview. “Joseph Parker is a warrior and a great inspiration to me, and that is the reason why I am here. Not just for some sparring but also to be around him.

The New Zealander has recovered incredibly well from devastating defeats and subsequent calls for him to retire. Clarke could do a lot worse than draw inspiration from Parker. It took time, but Parker rose from the perceived ashes. Clarke will hope that he can do the exact same thing.

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer