By: Sean Crose
“I’m delighted to have signed a long-term promotional deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing and I can’t wait to make my professional debut this year,” says Cheavon Clarke. Now that the amateur standout is officially a part of Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Promotions, he’ll have significant backing as he makes his way into the pro ranks. “I’m delighted to welcome Team GB Olympian Cheavon Clarke to the Matchroom Boxing team,” says Hearn. “I’ve followed Chev’s progress for a number of years now and he is a brilliant talent with a powerful personality and story that will make him hugely popular among fight fans.
According to a Matchroom press release, Clarke – an Englishman by way of Jamaica – “is trained by Sam Mullings at Churchill’s Boxing Club in South London, (and) was selected to represent Team GB at the Tokyo Olympic Games last summer but was defeated at the last 16 stage by Brazil’s Abner Teixeira.” Now ready to make his mark as a professional, the cruiserweight is eager to move forward with his career.
“This feels like the perfect time to get my journey in the pro ranks on the road,” he says. “As an amateur I won the ABA title twice, I won bronze at the Commonwealth Games, I won a European silver medal and I qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. I didn’t achieve what I set out to achieve at the Olympics. I wanted to win a medal, but I didn’t – and that wasn’t good enough. It was still a great experience though and something that I can always say that I’ve done.” Clarke also makes it clear he’s happy to be a member of the Matchroom team.
“I just like the way the Matchroom shows are,” he says. “There’s a legacy behind it. Speaking to people behind the scenes and speaking to Eddie, it felt right and it was a simple decision. I’ll bring that excitement and explosiveness, ferociousness and bad intentions. I can do it all. I can mix it all up. I can give you a bit of the Mike Tyson, a bit of the Ali, the Roy Jones. Ultimately, I’m Cheavron Clarke. There can only be one of anybody and I’m just the best Cheavron Clarke I can be. C4Boxing x Matchroom has been a long time coming!”
Hearn adds that Clarke’s “vast amateur experience will allow him to move nice and quickly in the pro game and after debuting soon in the U.K. he will have the opportunity to box all over the world on DAZN as we move him towards the Cruiserweight World Championships.”