Henry Clark Jim Amato
2007-07-25 -- 10:19:17
There were many who thought he was going to be the next Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali. He was a tall, smooth boxing heavyweight with a world of potential. His professional career began in 1964 and before long he was mixing it up with some of the best fighters in the world. How's this for starters? After going 1-2-1 in his first four fights, Clark pounded out a ten round verdict over future title challenger Manuel Ramos. The following year, he whipped tough trial horse George "Scrap Iron" Johnson. In 1966, he fought a no decision bout with Amos "Big Train" Lincoln and he lost a decision to highly regarded Zora Folley. In 1967, Henry established himself as a force in the heavyweight division by winning on points over Bill McMurray, Steve Grant on two occasions, Fred Lewis, Eddie Machen, and Roger Rischer.
Clark opened 1968 by defeating the clever Leotis Martin. This led Clark into a major bout against ex-heavyweight king Sonny Liston. This was Liston's first major step on his comeback trail and he passed with flying colors. Liston pummeled a game but overmatched Clark in scoring a seventh round stoppage.
The year 1969 had mixed results. Clark drew with Brian London and kayoed Bob Stallings. He then lost on points to "Florida" Al Jones and Jeff "Candy Slim" Merritt. In 1970, his best win was a points call over Jimmy "The King" Fletcher to win the California State Heavyweight Title. In 1972, Clark won and lost to Jack "The Giant" O'Halloran. He was then stopped in nine rounds by an up and coming Ken Norton on the Muhammad Ali-Bob Foster undercard.
In 1974, Clark blew out the now ranked Jeff Merritt in a rematch in one round. Clark quickly followed with a decision win over faded ex-contender Mac Foster. Clark remained unbeaten through four more fights and was then matched with the dangerous Earnie Shavers in Paris, France. Try as he might for the knockout, Shavers was unable to stop the wily Clark and had to settle for a hard earned points win. They met again six months later on the undercard of Ali-Norton III. This time, Clark was overwhelmed by the murderous punching Shavers in two rounds.
Clark attempted to bounce back four months later but was defeated over ten rounds by Howard "Kayo" Smith. Clark did not fight again for over two and a half years. When he did return to the ring, he was defeated in ten rounds by fringe contender Bernardo Mercado. Clark's final tally was 32 wins, 13 losses and 4 draws. He scored ten knockouts and was only stopped on three occasions. Those stoppages were by Liston, Norton, and Shavers. Surely no shame there.
Courtesy of Boxingtribune.com
