Heavyweight and Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist, Frazer Clarke, continued his pursuit up the heavyweight ratings with a second-round stoppage victory over Bogdan Dinu at the Manchester Arena as the chief support to Lawrence Okolies WBO cruiserweight title defence against David Light.
However, it was not all plain sailing with Dinu coming in as a late replacement for Rydell Booker, who was forced to withdraw due to injury.
Clarke, who now stands at 6-0 (5KOs), did not let the late opponent change affect him and felt comfortable facing him. Clarke would ultimately force Dinu to retire at the end of the second round of a scheduled eight due to Dinu sustaining suspected broken ribs.
“I was comfortable in there, but let’s not bullshit. He (Dinu) was a late replacement. I didn’t know what condition he would be in, but he didn’t look in terrible shape. It wasn't a hard deal for me to take, and it wasnt a complicated deal for him. But i got the job done, and that is the main thing.
“I still am a lot better fighter than i have shown so far in my career. But let’s be positive and onwards and upwards.
“I was a bit gutted that he didn’t come out for the third round as i was comfortable, and i found my range. However, i just saw him (Dinu) in the dressing room and his rib is pretty bad.
Clarke admitted that he will likely miss an opportunity to box on Joshua Buatsi’s undercard on May 6th in Birmingham due to a cut sustained over his right eye.
“I’m gutted, I’m really gutted that I’m likely not going to box in Birmingham now. I was looking forward to boxing with my mates (from the GB amateur setup), Ben (Whittaker), Buatsi (Joshua) and Lauren (Price). I have a load of friends in Birmingham, Nottingham, i would have taken an army there to support me.”
When speaking to IFLTV, Clarke was asked when he thinks he is ready to box for the British heavyweight title. Clarke responded confidently that he is ready to box for the title currently held by Fabio Wardley.
“I could have fought for that tonight, the fight before or the fight before that. That is me being realistic. I don’t think Wardley is a hard fight. Solomon (Dacres, English heavyweight champion) is a harder fight than Fabio. The title is currently in the Matchroom stable (who promote both Wardley and Dacres), and if Soloman gets an opportunity to fight Wardley, Solomon beats him. But i am one-hundred per cent ready at that level, and i feel i am already at that level.
