Still on a high from his epic comeback victory on his Zuffa Boxing debut, cruiserweight Chev Clarke is ready to step into the main event spotlight on Saturday. Clarke (12-2, 9 KOs) returns to action in the headline bout at Zuffa Boxing 12, where he takes on old adversary Chris ("CBS") Billam-Smith in a pivotal clash in the cruiserweight division. It’s a chance to follow up on his big win at Zuffa Boxing 07 in Bournemouth, where he got off the canvas twice to take over the fight before eventually stopping Jack Massey. The win was a memorable one, but the abiding memory for Clarke was the reaction of the fans in the stands at Bournemouth International Centre, who went through the full gamut of emotions as Clarke battled through adversity before eventually getting a huge come-from-behind win. “My biggest takeaway was the crowd and the atmosphere,” he said.“The reaction to it was my biggest takeaway. In the fight, in terms of coming back from adversity – I’ve been doing that since I was like a baby, so nothing new learned there about myself. But to see people's reaction to what can happen when things don't go your way, and then a full-circle moment. That was pretty cool.”
Now Clarke has a date with the man he defeated in the elite national finals to win an ABA title in the UK during his amateur days. “What I remember most about that one is all the people that traveled to Liverpool to come and support me,” he said. “Of course, the fight was really good. A really good fight. Again, there was a lot of adversity for that because, really and truly Chev Clarke wasn't supposed to be in the final, or anywhere close to the final. But I have a habit of being a pain in the arse… So yeah, it was a good, good moment in my time, and that moment seemed to handily change the trajectory of my life. Because then I went on to represent Team GB, and what people don't seem to speak about was that Chris had the opportunity to try out for Team GB. He tried out at the same time I tried out. I wasn't just given it. He tried out, and there was the last three of us. It was me, Chris, and a kid called Scott Forrest. Me and Scott Forrest made it, and he didn't. So it wasn't a thing of like, ‘Oh, Chev won the national championships and then got given a golden spoon to go to the Olympics.’ No, I earned it”
Despite getting the victory over Billam-Smith back then, Clarke admits that fight is unlikely to have much influence in how their rematch will go, with both men now vastly different competitors to the young hungry prospects who met in the amateur ranks. He's obviously still got some remnants of the defeat in his system, but I think we're different human beings now,” Clarke said. “He's a dad. He's been a former world champion. I became the best [amateur] heavyweight that Great Britain's ever had. Olympics, and weirdly, we're back here now. So, you know, it's just horses for courses, and it's a full-circle moment.”
Their rematch at Zuffa Boxing 12 is a meeting that’s ten years in the making, and one that Clarke knew would come around one day. Now it has arrived, he’s ready to deliver and produce another winning performance against a world-class opponent.
“From turning professional, it was always a case of when, not if,” he admitted. “The cruiserweight division, especially in the UK, is not very big, so it was just a matter of time. And when I was here, and it's a headline – Zuffa [Boxing] 12, November 7th, it's gonna be a spectacle. Sky Sports, Paramount, come on!”
Clarke is here to win for himself, and to push himself towards even bigger fights down the line. And while he wants to face the biggest and the best, he said he isn’t going to throw sweeping statements out there for his rivals to latch onto. Instead, he’s just going to do his job, and let his performance speak for itself. “I ain’t got a message for anybody in my weight class. Just watch the show, man,” he smiled. “Talk is cheap, isn't it? That's why people use free wi-fi. So me, I just handle my business, and you get to see the show.”
