Frazer Clarke: “The best version of Frazer Clarke is still to come.”

Frazer Clarke: “The best version of Frazer Clarke is still to come.”

Fighters are different from us mere mortals. They live and die by the stroke of a judge’s pen or one brutal finishing punch. However it comes, having your hand raised defines a fighter.

Frazer Clarke is on a two-fight losing streak. The manner of those defeats to Jeamie Tshikeva and Justis Huni is very different. Against Tshikeva, he massively underperformed. Against Huni, he performed beyond most people’s expectations. But that is immaterial to a fighter. A defeat, no matter how it comes, is still a defeat.

Clarke is coming off a wafer-thin majority decision defeat to Huni, a genuine top-15 world heavyweight contender. It was a highly encouraging performance from Clarke, but he sees it slightly differently. “Being the person that I am, it’s taken me a few weeks to look at the positives,” Clarke told FightPost. “In my sport, if you come second, you come last. It’s been really difficult, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.”

The fight with the highly-ranked Huni was Clarke’s first fight with Joe Gallagher. Clarke came in lighter and sharper. The former Olympian is happy in his new environment.

“That was only my first camp with Joe,” Clarke says. “We have a really good understanding. We have a great relationship. It’s the same with all the other lads in the gym. Everyone helps each other out. There is no bullshit with Joe. You choose to go to that gym, work hard and listen. Or if you don’t, you fuck off, it’s that simple. The main thing I see in the gym is hunger. I love being around all that.”

“I knew I was always capable of that,” Clarke added. “I probably moved to Joe Gallagher a few years too late. I definitely should have gone there earlier. But there are positives to take from that last fight. Huni is a world-class operator, and I didn’t look out of my depth. It hurts me, I don’t like losing. But I know where I am going, and that is the main thing. If we boxed Huni again, I would stop him. I broke my thumb in that 4th round. I boxed half of that fight with one hand basically. My right hand was shot to pieces. But Justis Huni is a good fighter. I give him credit.”

The career of Clarke, with the obvious exception of the Fabio Wardley rematch, is a story of near misses. The first Wardley fight could have gone his way. Likewise, even on a bad night, he only lost by a split-decision to Tshikeva in Derby. The Huni was another close call. Clarke is confident in his skill set. “I don’t think anyone will dominate me,” Clarke relayed to me. “I really do believe in my ability. There were just a few things that needed addressing. Which I am doing now.”

The fights against Tshikeva and Huni might both have resulted in back-to-back defeats, but the performances were very different. “It’s like chalk and cheese,” Clarke says of those two fights. “I know I dropped the ball in that fight. I will always give credit to Jeamie. He turned up, and he performed on the night. I know I didn’t perform. That wasn’t a vintage Frazer Clarke performance. That was nothing like me.”

“We massively overtrained because of the delays,” Clarke adds when I enquire a little deeper. “It ended up being a 16-week camp. I had that many fights in the gym; I was just burned out. I made a few bad decisions in fight week. It’s no excuse, but with it being so close to home, I felt more pressure. There were a lot of things that just didn’t sit right with me.”

Despite all the positives from his performance against Huni, even a few weeks removed from the fight, the defeat still hurts. “It’s still a loss. At the moment, I am a loser. I have lost my last two fights. As a man, I am not a loser, but on paper, I am. It doesn’t sit right. I am a winner. As soon as I get that fight date, whether it’s big or small, I am going into it with the same mentality to prove everyone wrong. The best version of Frazer Clarke is still to come. I feel great physically. I feel as sharp and as fit as I have ever been.”

Clarke is only 34, and he firmly believes the best is yet to come. Talks are underway for his return to the ring. A couple of domestic rivals are being considered. But Clarke is happy to jump back into world-class again if the right opportunity presents itself. But regardless of the opposition, Frazer Clarke just wants to fight as soon as possible. “We are desperate to get back out. I want to keep that momentum going. I am looking forward to fighting again.”