BOURNEMOUTH, England – Cheavon Clarke knows how important his Saturday fight with Jack Massey is.
They are the co-main on the inaugural Zuffa Boxing UK show in Bournemouth and Clarke, 35 and a former Team GB Olympian, has it all to do.
Now 11-2 with eight stoppage wins, Clarke admits that Massey had never been on his radar.
“I had no reason to think of him,” Clarke said. “He’s obviously done his thing, I’ve done my thing and it’s just the tale of the tape. So you’re gonna fight sometimes, right? And it’s that time and it’s just going out and showing the quality and how I can operate.”
Massey has openly targeted bill-topper Chris Billam-Smith, but is Clarke hoping to land a shot at the winner of the Bournemouth man and Ryan Rozicki?
“Yeah, that would be one of the things you’re looking at,” he said.
“Of course, there’s a big haul of cruiserweights at Zuffa so whether it be the top of the bill or whoever they bring, I’m ready to fight. I’m scared of nobody. I think I’ve shown that in my career span that’s lasted I think, what, four and a half years so far.”
As an older Olympian, Clarke didn’t have time on his side when he turned over and he moved fast. He has taken the losses to Viddal Riley and Leonardo Mosquea but is keen to point out what he has done rather than what he’s not yet achieved.
“It is what it is,” he said when asked his thoughts of his career trajectory. “How I feel don’t really matter. Some things could have been better, maybe be a bit [more] promoted, a bit more pushed, a bit more in that sense. It’s good. I got the British Cheavon Clarke has eyes on Chris Billam-Smith-Ryan Rozicki winner in nine fights. I don’t think a lot of people have done that. I fought for the European after 10 or 11 fights. I’ve achieved a lot in in that sense, though. I didn’t win the European but to get to that level in such a short period of time, I don’t think a lot of people can say they’ve done that and, of course, I’ve had a couple of [losses] but it is what it is. That’s a part of the game and it’s just going back and recalculating and showing that it was a blip.”
During the blip, Clarke got to see that boxing could be a fickle world.
“When it’s all good, everybody’s happy and everybody’s your friend when you’re winning,” he surmised. “When you’ve had a bit of a misfortune or a setback, that’s when you take back a look and you’re like, ‘Oh my god, they were just riding on a hype train. I can’t say that I’ve had that, but just as an overall example, ‘Oh they were just with me because I was winning.’ Flipping hell, I was making so many mistakes but I was getting away with it.”
Clarke contends that the losses have given him more to work with.
He says he didn’t show up against Riley last year.
“But fair play to him, he came fully prepared in all facets and he won but he knows he had a good night, a lucky night, and I think 80-85 per cent of everybody else knows that as well. But that’s what it’s about. It’s about what happens on the night.”
When Clarke turned over, the dream would have been titles, a fortune and glory, now he just wants to keep getting better.
“The dream is always to progress and to be better than I was yesterday,” he said. “It sounds cliche, but that’s how it is. I never had a dream of being a boxer. I just picked up boxing to get fit for football and now I’m an Olympian and British champion and I’m fighting here for Zuffa Boxing. Every day in boxing is a bonus for me and I said this when I first started boxing, the day I stop enjoying it, I’ll leave. “There’s nothing holding me here other than the fact that I believe in my ability and I have a purpose.”
