In his latest column, former Olympian and heavyweight contender Frazer Clarke gives his take on Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury, big changes for Lawrence Okolie and what is next for Adam Azim.
Paul vs Fury has been rammed down our throats
The Tommy Fury vs Jake Paul fight is a difficult one for me. It has been rammed down our throats to the point where you can’t help but have some little interest in it now. If you like your boxing and you’re on social media, following the boxing channels, they have all gone down this road so you can’t help not be exposed to it.
I wouldn’t say it is disappointing, but I think it still throws a bit of shade on the lads who are trying their best in the professional world and haven’t got the rub of the green. So it can rub people up the wrong way. But they are both doing the right things training-wise, working at their craft having worked hard for their profiles. If they are doing it right and training hard and setting an example, I have no problem with it.
But when we call it a big fight, it is still two novices getting in the ring, albeit with great followings. I wouldn’t talk it up as a fight of the year or anything like that. Occasion or spectacle of the year maybe? For a fight of the year, we need to have proper seasoned fighters in there. But here are two novices who are at a very similar level to each other.
Paul maybe too unpredictable for Fury
If I’m being honest, what I have seen from Jake Paul is that he has something. As an experienced fighter myself, it can be hard fighting someone who is a novice and is new to the sport because they do things that are unpredictable. It doesn’t come easy. I think Fury needs to prepare for a really awkward version of Jake Paul.
It will be erratic, ugly at times, things that aren’t textbook. Fury will be used to the technical stuff whereas Paul just wants to land hands. I am interested in it because it is the world we live in. I don’t think I would be staying up in the middle of the night for it but I am interested to see what happens.
I am an old school boxing head myself but boxing is changing, we have to accept it and focus on our own careers. I am not interested in some of the fights we have seen where the people involved clearly aren’t taking it seriously, doing it for entertainment or for clicks. This game is too dangerous for that.
But if people are taking it seriously and living the boxing life, you can see that in their technique and in their training. I have respect for that because I know how hard it is to go into the gym and do that. But this is more than boxing at the end of the day, it is business.
Thoughts on Okolie ditching McGuigan for SugarHill
This week we have seen Lawrence Okolie confirm he has switched trainers, linking up with SugarHill Steward. Personally, I loved what he was doing with Shane McGuigan, I thought he was developing really well and it was clear to see what they were doing and the strengths and improvements they were working on each time. But boxing is a crazy journey, always taking you from one place to another.
What SugarHill he has done in the sport speaks for itself, the work he has done with Tyson Fury has been incredible. Now he has got Tyson, Ben Whittaker and Lawrence Okolie with him, all credible, really good fighters. I think it could be a good link up.
Sugar likes working with fighters who have a lot of range and Lawrence certainly has that, he possibly has the longest arms in the world! I’m sure Sugar will try to get him to use those long levers and maybe add a bit more boxing to his repertoire – of course we know Lawrence can punch but maybe he will look to add a bit more craft and utilise that beautiful Kronk-style jab that they all seem to get behind.
Lawrence now got someone behind him who trains arguably the best heavyweight in the world. It will be a natural progression for him to fight up there once he has done what he wants to accomplish at cruiserweight.
With the frame he has got, he will definitely be comfortably sized at heavyweight. I wouldn’t say he is a natural heavyweight but he can definitely fill into that frame. Look at Deontay Wilder and Okolie and their dimensions are quite similar. So I am sure that will be at the back of his mind but at the minute, unifying at cruiserweight is the goal.
The big domestic fights there are huge, there is something about them, they have a different appeal to anything else. If he plays the game right, he can get two or three great unification fights with people like Richard Riakporhe and Chris Billam-Smith before making that move.
Azim showing he has no limits
Adam Azim is looking to go 8-0 against Santos Reyes this weekend and he is doing everything asked of him at the minute and more.
I have been on a couple of shows with him, he is switched on and has his feet on the ground but he knows what he wants.
He is very determined, very ambitious and that is what you want in a young fighter. He believes he has no limits in this game. But there is still an element of development that is always needed in young fighters. He has a great coach in Shane McGuigan, he is guiding him very well at the moment.
There are not many lightweights or super-lightweights that have the ability to render people unconscious with one shot.
I don’t like putting pressure on people and making comparisons but what comes to mind is Prince Naseem, that natural power to turn someone’s lights off.
Adam wants to win a world title even younger than Amir Khan managed and has welcomed talk of a fight with a former champion in George Kambosos Jr. When the right opportunity arises, you have to take them in boxing.
It’s a definitely possibility for him but at the same time he is headlining shows at the moment, fighting decent opponents and getting rid of them. But if the opportunity comes to fight someone like Kambosos or another elite name, you take it with both hands.
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