After beating down Tommy McCarthy in January, Team GB’s Cheavon Clarke was all set for another step up in class against British cruiserweight champ Isaac Chamberlain. Unfortunately for Clarke, Chamberlain pulled what I’ve termed “The Shalom Maneuver” and vacated his title just hours before the purse bid, allegedly to chase the European belt instead. As a result, Clarke will meet Ellis Zorro for the vacant belt on the May 25th Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall 2 show in Leeds.
As an aside, Matchroom snuck in a fun jab at Hennessy and BOXXER in the announcement.
The 33-year-old Clarke (8-0, 6 KO), who reached the Round of 16 in Tokyo before falling to eventual bronze medalist Abner Teixeira, has passed the eye test thus far while competing once every four months or so. Zorro (17-1, 7 KO) is a step or two behind Chamberlain in the UK’s stacked domestic cruiserweight scene, as seen in last December’s one-round mugging at the hands of Jai Opetaia, but there are definitely worse Plan B’s out there.
Matchroom actually revealed another solid matchup last week in Gary Cully (17-1, 10 KO) vs Francesco Patera (29-4, 11 KO). Cully is still trying to regain his footing after last year’s disastrous knockout loss to Jose Felix Jr and subsequent split decision over Reece Mould, and though Patera had nothing for Keyshawn Davis, he’s still a tough out,.