BoxRec

oliverfennell wrote: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.

Yeah but you've obviously seen some of the guys pronounced 'fit' to fight in this country... 'Control' my arse!

I remember his transformation from world title challenger to pick-up-a-monthly-payday pug was never more evident than when he fought Arnie over 12 rounds. It was shocking to see his blatant change of mindset.

Yep, that fight seemed to mark the turning point for Clarke. I remember some frank exchanges of opinions between Ian Darke/Glenn McCrory and Barry McGuigan immedaitely afterwards on sky.

Sad news, i wish Howard all the best.

MachoMan09 wrote:Clarke's story is typical of many who have gone before him. When you follow a sport where knocking another person unconscious is applauded; to act surprised and upset, when you read a story like the one at the head of this topic, lacks credibility and sound reasoning. As has been said many times before, boxing is a hurt business. Whilever the sport exists, brain injuries will occur.

I don't think any one is acting surprised, but there is nothing wrong with feeling sad reading the story.

MachoMan09 wrote:Clarke's story is typical of many who have gone before him. When you follow a sport where knocking another person unconscious is applauded; to act surprised and upset, when you read a story like the one at the head of this topic, lacks credibility and sound reasoning. As has been said many times before, boxing is a hurt business. Whilever the sport exists, brain injuries will occur.

you really are a MachoMan

The biggest problem here is that the Board are fairly powerless to stop a boxer boxing if they pass the medical because they are desperately scared about getting involved in a legal case about restraint of trade.

But it is not surprising that some of these guys get hurt. Yet criticise a system where guys lose 50 in a row and you get jumped on because they are "legends", "lifeblood of the sport". Clarke was once a good boxer, but at the end he was just getting beaten by every prospect around. Buckley was a featherweight who ended up losing every week against welterweights, Delroy Spencer is a flyweight who is now in his 40s and fighting featherweights.

What worries me is that it goes from becoming a part time deal to a full-time job, where they get reliant on the money and can't face giving it up because they have no other work. That just leads to them going on too long or taking fights that they shouldn't.

Some will say "that's how the game is", but that doesn't mean it right. The guy in the losing corner deserves more than a few hundred quid and a few empty plaudits. In some cases they need saving from themselves.

I don't want to turn the thread into a negative, but I thought the initial article and some of the comments on here are a tad OTT. "The World at his feet" etc - yes, he had a world title shot but it was hardly the most deserving and he was a massive outsider. He wasn't exactly a regular feature in the BRITISH top ten BEFORE the Vargas fight.

It was more of a Rocky Balboa story, Clarke was talented (very talented) but he was a "journeyman" before the Vargas fight.

stujones wrote:I don't want to turn the thread into a negative, but I thought the initial article and some of the comments on here are a tad OTT. "The World at his feet" etc - yes, he had a world title shot but it was hardly the most deserving and he was a massive outsider. He wasn't exactly a regular feature in the BRITISH top ten BEFORE the Vargas fight.

It was more of a Rocky Balboa story, Clarke was talented (very talented) but he was a "journeyman" before the Vargas fight.

Yes, and the line about him "sharing top billing" with Lewis and Holyfield was pretty fanciful!