Frazer Clarke Signs With BOXXER & Sky Sports

[Ruthless-RKO]

Frazer Clarke Inks With BOXXER: I'm Coming To Take People Out!

Frazer Clarke has signed with BOXXER, Sky Sports’ in-house promoter, and is promising a destructive route to the top of the heavyweight division.

Clarke, 30, who won a super-heavyweight bronze medal at the Olympics in Tokyo in August, is the first of Great Britain’s six boxing medallist to sign a professional deal.

He looks likely to make his professional debut on the Amir Khan-Kell Brook undercard in Manchester on February 19 and has agreed a three-year deal.

“It’s a huge day for me, it has been a long time coming,” Clarke said. “Since the Olympics I have had a great time and the next step on my journey was to turn professional and I think I have chosen the best outfit in BOXXER and Sky Sports to guide me back to the pinnacle, where I was as an amateur.

“I want to get to world titles and everything in between, have a fantastic journey and enjoy it along the way.”

He will be trained by Angel Fernandez at Loughborough University, alongside BOXXER’s cruiserweight hope Richard Riakporhe.

“For me it is about doing the job correctly,” Clarke said. “I might be 30 but I still feel fresh. I’m ready to make a statement.

“My style is calculated aggression. I need to learn the tricks of the trade as a pro. I am coming to take people out, anything past round one is too much. I am going to go in there to try and excite. But at the same time I will use my brain, use the experience I have got. I have always been in exciting fights as an amateur and I expect the same as a pro. You just need to look at my four fights with Joe Joyce, they were fight of the year contenders every time.”

Joyce won a silver medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016, while Anthony Joshua claimed gold in London in 2012. Clarke sparred with both in the lead up to their own Olympic campaigns during his long time on the Team GB squad but he could see the day when they meet in the professional ring.

“They are both people who I’d like to call friends but all three of us are competitors, we like being the best and I am no different to anyone else,” Clarke said. “They are a huge mile in front of me at the minute. I am going to try to close the gap but I have got all the work to do yet.

“One day, if those opportunities are on the line, why not? In Britain we are blessed with such good heavyweights and the opportunity is there for some massive fights. I have got to put myself in the position and do all the work and we’ll see where it takes us.”

BOXXER are likely to be in the market to sign all of Britain’s six Olympic medallists, but Ben Shalom, the company’s CEO, said they would be pushing for a quick rise through the ranks with Clarke.

“Fraser doesn’t want to hang around and is ready to go,” Shalom said. “He is probably one of the most decorated heavyweight amateurs we have ever had. He will be starting in six-rounders and eight-rounders, but he will be headlining show very quickly.

“He wants the big fights. We think this is 12-18 months to get into contention for titles and we think he is going to be in world-title contention within this three-year deal.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Had Hearn been with Sky, he may have gone with them.

Sky and Boxxer are gonna get the signings..

[maverick23]

Hmmm…interesting.

Clarke has always seemingly got on well with Eddie and Eddie’s seemed to be confident about signing a load of the Olympians. Getting the team captain over is good move for Boxxer and may well help in getting some of the other Olympians signed up.

2 U.K. Olympians have turned over and both with Sky/Boxxer.

[JamesPhilips]

I like Clarke but not sure how far he’ll go

[Rockytony67]

Didn’t Peter McGrail go with Matchroom?

[garethhop]

Significant. He’s not as good as Joyce in my view but still.

[liamlion]

Hmmm…interesting.

Clarke has always seemingly got on well with Eddie and Eddie’s seemed to be confident about signing a load of the Olympians. Getting the team captain over is good move for Boxxer and may well help in getting some of the other Olympians signed up.

2 U.K. Olympians have turned over and both with Sky/Boxxer.

Ominous signs for Eddie at DAZN. Not going to be plain sailing now that his domestic monopoly has gone.

Eddie now has to compete with a strong rival domestically (Boxer/Sky) as well as his existing rivals in America (PBC etc). Big pressure. Eddie is spread too thin and has started looking a bit jaded.

Interesting to see how he responds.

[skanksta]

Sky have done well since MR left.

[MightyWarrior]

Frazer was far too happy losing the final to be any type of big prospect in the pros

[garethhop]

Frazer was far too happy losing the final to be any type of big prospect in the pros

He didn’t get to the final…

But he’s a decent amateur. Good profile and will knock some people out for a while and quite possibly win a British title.

[Steveh583]

eddie thought matchroom were bigger than Sky didn't he? Big mistake!

[a force]

Great move for him. Any of the Olympians would be barmy to sign with Dazn. No one watches it. The main events don’t even trend never mind been down the card.

[Coco]

Matchroom has AJ, Whyte, Parker and Chisora

FW has Fury, Joyce and DDD

And Sky have got Hughie Fury and Clarke

[Twinkle Toes]

By the time he gets to the end of his 3 year deal, he's going to be 33 and only then nudging towards a world title challenge. I can't see it being too much of a loss for the other promoters.

Boxxer and SKY are pretty desperate to get some names on the board, so it's a result for them.

[gregregegg]

Smart i think. Eddie is oe hell of a mouthpeie, Franks doing well right now, but nothing beats sky for building someone from the ground up. Especialy if your an olympian. hope they really push/invest in him. 6-10 fights first year against the whos who of journymen. 2x 4 rounders. 2x 6s, 2x8s, 2x 10s and into a brittish title fight. Bosh.

[stujones]

No spring chicken and hopefully he will be pushed on at the speed Joe Joyce threatened but ultimately hasnt done. I think though hes more a useful signing cos he can talk and has some name as opposed to be a serious world threat....in saying that, the division lacks depth

[maverick23]

Sky have done well since MR left.

I think Sky have done a great job pushing boxing. It seems like they’re doing a fair bit of the actual promotional work whilst Boxxer seem to more matchmakers than promoters at the moment.

The fights/shows on Sky since Boxxer started haven’t been that good (outside of their prizefighter) but clearly they need time. I think they’ve had 3 normal shows and all 3 have had heavily one sided fights in the main events.

The line up for the start of next year looks great though and will help them sign more fighters.

[maverick23]

Didn’t Peter McGrail go with Matchroom?

No. Weirdly he’s doing it on a fight-by-fight basis and hasn’t signed with a promoter. Risky strategy to be honest.

[maverick23]

Hmmm…interesting.

Clarke has always seemingly got on well with Eddie and Eddie’s seemed to be confident about signing a load of the Olympians. Getting the team captain over is good move for Boxxer and may well help in getting some of the other Olympians signed up.

2 U.K. Olympians have turned over and both with Sky/Boxxer.

Ominous signs for Eddie at DAZN. Not going to be plain sailing now that his domestic monopoly has gone.

Eddie now has to compete with a strong rival domestically (Boxer/Sky) as well as his existing rivals in America (PBC etc). Big pressure. Eddie is spread too thin and has started looking a bit jaded.

Interesting to see how he responds.

I always find/found it strange when people say Matchroom had a monopoly. They didn’t - they just had an exclusive deal with Sky. They were always several other people promoting shows on other channels.

I agree Eddie may be spreading himself too thin but if he has genuine aspirations to be the ‘UFC of boxing’ then they have to push themselves.

[maverick23]

Frazer was far too happy losing the final to be any type of big prospect in the pros

He didn’t get to the final…

But he’s a decent amateur. Good profile and will knock some people out for a while and quite possibly win a British title.

Yeah - I think his ceiling will be the British title. I don’t think he’s as good as Joyce when Joyce turned over but he has the potential to be in several entertaining fights.

[liamlion]

Hmmm…interesting.

Clarke has always seemingly got on well with Eddie and Eddie’s seemed to be confident about signing a load of the Olympians. Getting the team captain over is good move for Boxxer and may well help in getting some of the other Olympians signed up.

2 U.K. Olympians have turned over and both with Sky/Boxxer.

Ominous signs for Eddie at DAZN. Not going to be plain sailing now that his domestic monopoly has gone.

Eddie now has to compete with a strong rival domestically (Boxer/Sky) as well as his existing rivals in America (PBC etc). Big pressure. Eddie is spread too thin and has started looking a bit jaded.

Interesting to see how he responds.

I always find/found it strange when people say Matchroom had a monopoly. They didn’t - they just had an exclusive deal with Sky. They were always several other people promoting shows on other channels.

I agree Eddie may be spreading himself too thin but if he has genuine aspirations to be the ‘UFC of boxing’ then they have to push themselves.

Of course its a matter of opinions, but the exclusivity with Sky gave Eddie an unrivalled domestic budget and platform and coverage - which was very powerful and significant. Theres nothing "just" about that arrangement.

Eddie had a monopoly on Sky's boxing and by virtue it made him number 1 domestically. Truth be told, it gave Eddie the ability and power to sign nearly every domestic fighter he wanted. He could put on shows that no one else could because of the financial backing of Sky, with its hugely powerful brand and reach.

Yes, there were been other promoters operating but they never challenged Eddie & Sky, who were far and away the number 1 platform/promotion. Frank's occasional big shows like Frampton/Fury at Windsor Park, Belfast or Warrington-Selby at Elland Road were exceptions rather than the norm.

[maverick23]

Ominous signs for Eddie at DAZN. Not going to be plain sailing now that his domestic monopoly has gone.

Eddie now has to compete with a strong rival domestically (Boxer/Sky) as well as his existing rivals in America (PBC etc). Big pressure. Eddie is spread too thin and has started looking a bit jaded.

Interesting to see how he responds.

I always find/found it strange when people say Matchroom had a monopoly. They didn’t - they just had an exclusive deal with Sky. They were always several other people promoting shows on other channels.

I agree Eddie may be spreading himself too thin but if he has genuine aspirations to be the ‘UFC of boxing’ then they have to push themselves.

Of course its a matter of opinions, but the exclusivity with Sky gave Eddie an unrivalled domestic budget and platform and coverage - which was very powerful and significant. Theres nothing "just" about that arrangement.

Eddie had a monopoly on Sky's boxing and by virtue it made him number 1 domestically. Truth be told, it gave Eddie the ability and power to sign nearly every domestic fighter he wanted. He could put on shows that no one else could because of the financial backing of Sky, with its hugely powerful brand and reach.

Yes, there were been other promoters operating but they never challenged Eddie & Sky, who were far and away the number 1 platform/promotion. Frank's occasional big shows like Frampton/Fury at Windsor Park, Belfast or Warrington-Selby at Elland Road were exceptions rather than the norm.

Yep - the deal certainly gave Matchroom a massive head start. I just disagree with the notion of a monopoly.

allegedly had loads of big fights from the states and had decent financial support from Bill Ives and then BT got involved who clearly have vast wealth behind them. The combination of Sky/Matchroom just did boxing promotion a lot better than anyone else at the time.

ITV got involved with thinking it was easy and within a couple of years closed their PpV platform. Other channels (Dave being one) tried too.

As I said before Sky have massively ramped up their promotion/push of boxing since partnering with Boxxer and have a strong Q1 2022 line up so will be interesting to see what happens.

[DrDuke]

I guess, he will overwhelm a row of cans, journeymen, fringes and then he'll get schooled by some top-20 guy. He looks like a type of a fighter, who relies simply on own size and strength.

[Ruthless-RKO]

I guess, he will overwhelm a row of cans, journeymen, fringes and then he'll get schooled by some top-20 guy. He looks like a type of a fighter, who relies simply on own size and strength.

Can he actually box.

[Rockytony67]

Didn’t Peter McGrail go with Matchroom?

No. Weirdly he’s doing it on a fight-by-fight basis and hasn’t signed with a promoter. Risky strategy to be honest.

Thanks for that Maverick, I had no idea that was the case.