Chris Clarke (born October 24, 1956, in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

) is a former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, who won the Canadian and Commonwealth Welterweight championship titles and also became the Canadian Middleweight champion. As an amateur boxer, Clarke won the gold medal in the men's

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

division at the

1975 Pan American Games The 1975 Pan American Games, officially known as the VII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Mexico 1975 (), were held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12 to October 26, 1975, exactly twenty years after the second Pan American Games ...

. A year later he represented his native country at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

, where he was defeated in the second round.

Amateur boxing career

Chris Clarke began boxing as an amateur in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

. In February 1975, he won a gold medal in the 125-pound division at the 1975 Canada Winter Games in

Lethbridge, Alberta Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

. He soon became a two-time Canadian National Champion, winning the amateur national boxing championships of June 1975 in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and May 1976 in Sudbury.

1975 Pan American Games results

Chris Clarke represented Team Canada in the men's lightweight division at the 1975 Pan American Games. His defeat of

Aaron Pryor Aaron Pryor (October 20, 1955 – October 9, 2016) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1976 to 1990. He was a two-time light welterweight world champion, having held the WBA title from 1980 to 1983, and the IBF title from 1984 ...

in the finals made him the first Canadian boxer to ever win a gold medal at the Pan American Games.

1976 Summer Olympics results

Below are the results of Chris Clarke, a light welterweight (139) boxer on Canada's Olympic boxing team who competed at the Montreal 1976 Summer Olympics: * Round of 64: bye. * Round of 32: defeated Lasse Friman (Finland) on points, 5-0. * Round of 16: lost to Jozsef Nagy (Hungary) referee stopped the contest in the third round.

Professional boxing career

Clarke's professional boxing career began in 1976. He'd eventually capture both the Canadian and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

Welterweight titles with an 11th-round TKO of

Clyde Gray Clyde Gray (born March 10, 1947) is a Canadian professional welter/ light middle/middleweight boxer of the 1960s, '70s and '80s who won the Canada welterweight title, and Commonwealth welterweight title, and was a challenger for the North Ameri ...

in 1979. He lost in the rematch to Gray a few months later.: In 1980, he became the Canadian Middleweight champion by defeating Ralph Hollett in a title fight held at the Halifax Metro Centre. The Halifax native retired in 1987 after a loss to Shawn O'Sullivan of Toronto in a non-title bout dubbed the "Brawl for it all". In 2006, Chris Clarke was inducted into the

Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame The Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame was established on November 3, 1964, by John E. Ahern to honour outstanding athletes, teams and sport builders in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, ...

Professional boxing record

Honors and awards

* 1975 Canada Winter Games Gold Medalist. (1975) * Canadian National Amateur Boxing Champion. (1975) *

Gold Medalist. (1975) * Two-time Canadian National Amateur Boxing Champion. (1976) *

Team Canada member. *

Commonwealth Boxing Council The Commonwealth Boxing Council (CBC) is a governing body that sanctions professional boxing bouts for territories within the Commonwealth, and is an affiliate of the WBC. History The Commonwealth Boxing Council first started in 1954 as the Empi ...

Welterweight Champion. (1979) * Canadian Welterweight Champion. (1979) * Canadian Middleweight Champion. (1980) * Inductee of the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame. * Inductee of the

. (2006)

References

1956 births Living people Canadian people of British descent Boxers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Canada Boxers at the 1975 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games boxers for Canada Sportspeople from Halifax, Nova Scotia Canadian male boxers Pan American Games gold medalists in boxing Lightweight boxers Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Boxing people from Nova Scotia {{Canada-boxing-bio-stub