Johnny A Clark (10 September 1947 – 28 December 2020) was a British boxer who won the British and European

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

titles in 1973.

Career

Amateur career

As an amateur he represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the flyweight division at the

1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. They were followed by the 1966 Commonwealth P ...

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. He won the 1966

Amateur Boxing Association England Boxing, known until 2013 as the Amateur Boxing Association of England, is the Sports governing body, governing body of amateur boxing clubs in England. There are separate organisations for Scotland and Wales with boxing in Northern Irela ...

British bantamweight title, when boxing out of the Robert Browning ABC.

Professional career

From

Walworth Walworth () is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the Old ...

in London, Clark made his professional debut in October 1966, fighting a draw against Tommy Connor. Trained by Charlie Page at the Thomas a Becket gym, he won his next 27 fights, and in April 1970 faced

Alan Rudkin Alan Rudkin MBE (18 November 1941 – 22 September 2010) was a British national, Commonwealth, and European bantamweight boxing champion (1965–1970). He was born in St Asaph (Wales), as his pregnant mother was evacuated from Liverpool during ...

for the British bantamweight title and the vacant Commonwealth bantamweight title at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

. Rudkin stopped him in the twelfth round to take both titles. In April 1971 he faced John Kellie in a final eliminator for the British title; He was stopped in the second round, but six months later they met again, with Clark stopping Kellie in the eighth. This led to a challenge for Rudkin's British and Commonwealth titles in January 1972; The fight went the full 15 rounds, with Rudkin retaining the titles by half a point. Clark got a third shot at the British title in 1973 after Rudkin had vacated it. He faced Paddy Maguire at the Royal Albert Hall, winning on points to become British champion. In April 1973 he added the European title, beating

Franco Zurlo Franco Zurlo (4 October 1940 – 17 June 2018) was an Italian boxer. He competed in the men's bantamweight event at the 1964 Summer Olympics. At the 1964 Summer Olympics he defeated Mikhail Mitsev of Bulgaria in the Round of 32, before lo ...

by unanimous decision.Bunce, Steve (2017) ''Bunce's Big Fat Short History of British Boxing'' (Kindle edition), Transworld Digital, ASIN B01KUHG9R0 He successfully defended the title in January 1974, beating Salvatore Fabrizio by majority decision. He beat Chuck Spencer in March 1974, and Luigi Tessarin in May, but in the absence of adequate purse offers, relinquished his British title, and in August 1974 was forced to retire due to a detached retina in his right eye, while still the reigning European champion. Clark died in December 2020 at the age of 73.A tribute to Johnny Clark
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References

External links

*
Professional record
boxinghistory.org.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Johnny 1947 births 2020 deaths Bantamweight boxers Boxers at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games English male boxers Boxers from Greater London Commonwealth Games competitors for England