The wait goes on for British heavyweight Frazer Clarke.
The unbeaten 32 year old is still hoping that a deal can be agreed for him to face British heavyweight champion, Fabio Wardley, early next year.
Last month, Wardley stopped David Adeleye to successfully defend his belt in Saudi Arabia and remains a promotional free agent.
Wardley is sure to have plenty of offers for his services and there isn’t likely to be a quick decision made on if, when and where Clarke (8-0, 6 KO’s) will get his shot so the 2020 Olympic bronze medallist allowed himself to slip into fan mode last week.
Clarke was an interested observer when the protagonists of the massive December 23rd show in Saudi Arabia came together at last week’s launch press conference.
As well as providing boxing fans with a tantalizing glimpse of exactly what the future may hold given this influx of Saudi Arabian money, the event was manna from heaven for armchair psychologists. With Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren seated within six feet of each other for the first time ever and heavyweight rivals Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua and Jarrell Miller all sat at the top table, those who seems to care more about clickbait, drama and politics than actually fighting were in their element.
Joshua’s behavior attracted the most attention. There was a surreal, celebratory atmosphere to the who press conference but the two-time unified heavyweight champion wasn’t in the mood to join in, he was clearly there for business. He and Miller reignited their long running feud and the outspoken American clearly angered Joshua with a few deliberately chosen putdowns.
Joshua then switched his attention to his opponent for December 23rd, Otto Wallin, and exchanged a few words with the mild-mannered Swede when they came face to face. To the initiated, it was little more than fight talk and fight behavior but those who watch interviews with their thumb hovering over their phone ready to deliver their searing hot takes couldn’t help but make their opinions on Joshua’s frame of mind known.
Clarke knows Joshua well and took it all with one big pinch of salt.
“You can take what you want from it. It’s an argument. I have road rage every day with people, it doesn’t bother me once I get home, it’s been and gone. It’s a bit of squabbling,” Clarke told SecondsOut.
“‘Oh, Joshua’s rattled. Oh, Tyson Fury was rattled by Usyk,’ they aren’t rattled, they’re just having a bit of a say. 24 hours later, I’m sure they’ve gone home, gone to sleep in a three or four million pound mansion, put their feet up, sat in a jacuzzi, got the chef to bring some food over and they’ve forgot about it. They aren’t worried about that.
“Joshua’s job is fighting. He isn’t bothered about squabbles at press conferences. People always say people are rattled. We aren’t rattled. We’re fighting people. We don’t get rattled by words, we get rattled if someone smashes us in the jaw or breaks your nose or cuts your eye. We’re not rattled by words off idiots like Jarrell Miller. He’s a cheat, he shouldn’t even be up there. How’s that f——- idiot getting paid all that money to go over to Saudi Arabia to fight. He’s a cheat, he shouldn’t be boxing. It’s f——- wrong but there we go.”