Howard Clarke - terribly sad

[gobbles]

The price of being a journeyman and a warning to others

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/7 ... arden.html

[The Law]

Very sad indeed. There was a fundraiser for him in the Midlands late last year. Please refer to the video clip at the link below.

http://www.brandhatton.com/VideoNews/38 ... larke.aspx

[teddy007]

Gutted for him.

[bennie]

Great article by Steve Lillis, if terribly upsetting.

[Poncey]

Great article by Steve Lillis, if terribly upsetting.

X2

[Deserter]

Great article by Steve Lillis, if terribly upsetting.

The one issue I have with it is that he states:

"an incurable brain disease, a result of the years of punishment he took in the ring."

And yet elsewhere in the article, it says that no medical diagnosis has been made linking his condition to boxing.
Now don't get me wrong, it appears extremely likely that one has caused the other, but it's sloppy journalism to write it as fact when it's unproven.

[whicker]

His career is a very interesting one. A decent boxer, winning more than he lost, who picked up a couple of good wins (Galfi and Papillon both look capable opponents) and suddenly gets a World Title chance totally out of the blue- having never fought for ANY professional title before.

Then after that three 12 rounders, against very good opposition, then his career seems to have been against some of out best domestic fighters of the last decade. The article talks about "£500 punchbag" , but thats a little misleading- he fought some very capable and well known domestic level fighters (I'm sure for some good pay days, too, and of course journeyman work is regular work) Only at the end does it appear that the opposition was more limited.

[DG.]

Not a well written article. chavlike and too harshly worded in places, but he writes for the Sun so its expected.

All the best to Howard..

[rhino222]

its very sad but FTD is a broad diagnosis by doctors, affecting middle aged people it affects the frontal area of the brain that controls speech and moods etc. over half of those affected have a history of it in the family, it is not a 'disease' that doctors can give any survival time span on, howard could live till he is 80. and.... we are all dying from the moment we are born, just at different speeds !!

its probably to do with howards boxing career, but not definate.

[dondada]

What a sad, sad, story. Desperate.

[DIRT SUGAR]

Poor man. Good amateur, first saw him in an English international against a team from Holland in Margate years ago.
He was a solid pro but shows how bloody hard this sport is and took more than enough beatings from the likes of Vargas, Lockett and Richard Williams. Gave Takaloo, who I trained in the amateurs fora bit, a good fight for the IBF Intercontinental title too. That was his last really competitive performance and basically everytime I saw him after that he just got beat up.

He's obviously paying a heavy price for spending too long in the game and my heart goes out to him and how awful for his family. He's 42 for God's sake!

We go on about these journeyman fighters who 'the sport couldn't do without' but have never found undercard 'fights' with the likes of Howard and Peter Buckley getting pummelled for four or six rounds particularly easy to watch and don't think there's anything 'cagey' in watching them get worked over round after round just to give prospects a night's work.

Love this sport but at the same time, the price these lads pay does make me wonder why sometimes.

[veriton]

20k for fighting Vargas - christ

[Bomber 1]

20k for fighting Vargas - christ

So sad and so effing annoying getting that amount..

This is one of the saddest boxing stories there is , I wish him well...

[Nightmare Roy]

20k for fighting Vargas - christ

So sad and so effing annoying getting that amount..

This is one of the saddest boxing stories there is , I wish him well...

Yeah i saw that fight Howard did well, showed a lot of heart, 20 k what a joke, Vargas was probably the most feared young fighter at that time.

[veriton]

sorry to take this thread off on a tangent but i actually got refund off Sky for that PPV because the useless fkers didnt show Clarke v Vargas live. if i remember correctly they showed some kind of ali movie instead of a british fighter in a world title fight - unbelievable.

[whicker]

Does anyone remember what odds were being offered on Howard for that bout?

[Nightmare Roy]

Does anyone remember what odds were being offered on Howard for that bout?

I'm guessing 20 ish

[bennie]

Vargas tried his usual antics in the build-up and at the weigh-in but Howard was there to enjoy his crack, and he milked every moment of it. I remember just after he got stopped he stayed right there to chat with Vargas, who you could see appreciated the "Britishness" of Howard. Even the crass Lou Duva stood back and allowed Howard to congratulate Vargas and thank him for the opportunity.
They can't take that away from Howard.

[Rocky Balboa]

I'll never forget watching Clarke when he fought Anthony Small. Howard was a showman, an entertainer. Not many like him in the sport anymore. He seemed to enjoy all the hype & trash talk that some of his opponents would try. He was very good value for money.

IMO, Howard has taken too much punishment. He's been around for years. I'm not sure what his financial predicament is, but if he's not comfortable, then its even more sad.

I don't really know what else to say in respect of this as I'm gutted for the man!

[rhino222]

Poor man. Good amateur, first saw him in an English international against a team from Holland in Margate years ago.
He was a solid pro but shows how bloody hard this sport is and took more than enough beatings from the likes of Vargas, Lockett and Richard Williams. Gave Takaloo, who I trained in the amateurs fora bit, a good fight for the IBF Intercontinental title too. That was his last really competitive performance and basically everytime I saw him after that he just got beat up.

He's obviously paying a heavy price for spending too long in the game and my heart goes out to him and how awful for his family. He's 42 for God's sake!

We go on about these journeyman fighters who 'the sport couldn't do without' but have never found undercard 'fights' with the likes of Howard and Peter Buckley getting pummelled for four or six rounds particularly easy to watch and don't think there's anything 'cagey' in watching them get worked over round after round just to give prospects a night's work.

Love this sport but at the same time, the price these lads pay does make me wonder why sometimes.

i hear where you are coming from but at the end of the day its the fighters choice to get in there, its generally the fighter that is last to know when its time to call it a day.

[jimglen]

begs the question, IS there enough money in Boxing for an "Insurance Tax", health & retirement sort of thing?

ALL boxers would be taxed, BUT not all boxers would recieve from the fund. and TOP Fighters and Promoters would pay respectful amounts more, and of course every country and/or nation would look after there own!

fighters to qualify would obviously be fighters "injured" or impared by the sport and ONLY fighters that have made a career out of it, say 7 years and/or 30 fights or more (unless of course they've been hurt in a fight before this), this lot would receive a pension of sort and more if injured.

fighters who DON'T qualify, wealthy fighters of course, even though they've HAD to pay into it, and ex-fighters who earn say £20,000 a year or more in life!

ITs for INJURED and Boxing's poor fighters shall we say!

[standing8]

Yes his article brings home tragic news,Its easy to say the BBBOC should have removed his license,but I dont know any fighter that simply hands it back,as these fighters are much in demand,and the moneys nice.

I know of a current fighter whos been loosing badly,as a result his manager has handed his contract back to him (much to the fighters disgust) only for another so called manager to offer his services!

I dont no much about his illness,and if boxings to blame.although he will benefit from the BBBOC's benevolent fund,

A very bad month for boxing great servants!

[stujones]

The BBBoC treated him harshly after the Vargas fight. He claimed he had been assured a shot at the British title, if he lost to Vargas.... based on the Papilon win, but it never happend.

A very talented fighter.

[oliverfennell]

sorry to take this thread off on a tangent but i actually got refund off Sky for that PPV because the useless fkers didnt show Clarke v Vargas live. if i remember correctly they showed some kind of ali movie instead of a british fighter in a world title fight - unbelievable.

I seem to remember watching that fight... although it was a long time ago so perhaps it was on delay rather than the live broadcast. I can't remember exactly.

[oliverfennell]

If some of things he says are true (about passing medicals despite having years-old cataracts and having been drinking), that is very damning for the BBBC, which has one of the best reputations of any licensing body worldwide.