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 and weightlifting. 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 ...

titles in 1973.

Career

Amateur career

As an amateur he represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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. The event was followed by the 1966 Commonweal ...

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six 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 in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. He won the 1966 Amateur Boxing Association 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 ...

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, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

. 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 The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport ...

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 Retinal detachment is a condition where the retina pulls away from the tissue underneath it. It may start in a small area, but without quick treatment, it can spread across the entire retina, leading to serious vision loss and possibly blindness. R ...

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 the London Borough of Southwark Commonwealth Games boxers for England People from Walworth