A current undefeated heavyweight admitted getting into some difficulties when sharing the ring with a younger Artur Beterbiev.
Frazer Clarke, a British contender who won an Olympic bronze medal, recalled an infamous spar with Beterbiev at a Sheffield training camp.
“Big Fraze” set the scene as the six-foot-five-inch brute was pitted against a slighter light heavyweight who weighed 50 pounds and changed less than him.
Beterbiev, boxing’s current knockout artist with a one hundred percent early finish record, more than held his own against Clarke.
Unbeaten heavyweight smashed by Beterbiev
“I got chucked in these small rings in Sheffield in 2011 when there was a camp with Russia,” remembered Clarke. “This little mean-looking thing who was young [entered the ring].
“I thought, ‘He’s tiny. I’ll be too big for him!’ – His name was Artur Beterbeiv, and he smashed every one of my chins and every roll on my body,” he added.
The Russian juggernaut is a notoriously vicious puncher, as Clarke’s compatriot Callum Smith found out to his detriment in Canada this month.
At 38, time is ticking on his career, although Beterbiev seems to improve with every fight. Now boasting a 20-0, 20 KOs record, an undisputed light-heavyweight unification with Dmitry Bivol is lined up next.
Saudi Chairman Turki Alalshikh is in negotiations to bring the fight to Riyadh. Both men verbally agreed to the battle at the end of 2023.
If the fight gets done for the summer, fans can look forward to another huge event where four title belts will be on the line.
The first of this year’s mammoth offerings happens on February 17 in the Kingdom. Tyson Fury battles Oleksandr Usyk for all the marbles in the big boy division.
In addition, Clarke hopes to be mixing it with those kinds of names by the end of 2024. At present, the UK fighter is 8-0 with 6 KOs.
