7/24/07 - Jim Amato HENRY CLARK... By Jim Amato article written 7-12-07 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 ? His pro debut was a four round decision loss to the rugged Joey Orbillo ! Less then two months later he pounded out a ten round verdict over future title challenger Manuel Ramos. The following year he whipped tough trialhorse George "Scrapiron" Johnson. In 1966 he fought a No Decision bout with Amos "Big Train" Lincoln and he lost a decision to highly regarded Zora Folley.The year 1967 saw Henry establish 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. Henry opened 1968 by defeating the clever Leotis Martin. This led Henry into a major bout against comebacking ex-heavyweight king Sonny Liston. This was Sonny's first major step on his comeback trail and he passed with flying colors. Sonny pummelled a game but overmatched Clark in scoring a seventh round stoppage. The year 1969 had mixed results. Henry 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. In 1972 Henry 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. Henry came back to win three bouts in 1973 and then on March 4th 1974 in a rematch, Henry blew out the now ranked Jeff Merritt in one round. Henry quickly followed with a decision win over faded ex-contender Mac Foster. Henry remained unbeaten through four more fights and was then matched with the dangerous Earnie Shavers in Paris, France. Try as he might for the KO, Shavers was unable to stop the wily Clark and had to settle for a hard earned points win over Henry. They met again six months later on the undercard of Ali-Norton III. This time Henry was overwhelmed by the murderous punching Shavers in two rounds. Henry attempted to bounce back four months later but was defeated over ten by Howard "Kayo" Smith. Henry did not fight again for over two and a half years. When he did return he was defeated in ten rounds by fringe contender Bernardo Mercado. Henry's final tally was 32 wins, 12 losses and four draws. He scored seven knockouts but he was only stopped on three occasions. That was by Liston, Norton and Shavers. Surely no shame there. 
 GOODBYE TO GATTI THE GREAT...AGAIN By Jim Amato article written 7-15-07 Arturo is probably my favorite boxer active today. What tremendous fights he has given boxing fans. The trilogy with Mickey Ward and his wars with Wilson Rodriguez and Gabe Ruelas, etc... He is a warrior in every sense of the word. As much as I like Arturo I feel he has without a doubt reached the end of the line after being defeated by Alfonso Gomez. This was a fight that Arturo was not supposed to lose..Gatti could expect a tough fight but he was expected to go out a winner. To me Gomez is a naturally talented boxer with a great personality. He really won over the fans on the " Contender " show. Still I thought he had limitations and I really didn't think he could beat Arturo Gatti. Not even a fading version of Gatti. Whatever Gomez could do, Artuto could do better. Every match up, jab, hand speed , power, defense and ring generalship all favored Arturo. This is not a knock against Gomez who can be quite a clever boxer when he chooses to. Gomez also has some sting to his punches and is better defensively then he is given credit for. He just does not do these things as well as Arturo. Or so I thought. I also thought Gatti had the edge in heart because of his proven track record against world class opposition. Gomez though had shown great heart in his performances too. How did I see the fight coming out ? I saw Gatti winning it . I envisioned him busting Gomez up early with his jab and sharp counterpunches. He might even knock Alfonso down but I doubted if he would be able to keep the gutsy Gomez on the canvas. I felt midway through the fight there would be some wild exchanges as Arturo may get careless in his eagerness to put Gomez away. Finally Gatti would settle down and get back to his game plan, chopping Gomez up with stinging rapid fire combinations. It would be a nice payday and swan song for the most exciting boxer of this era, Arturo Gatti. Boy was I ever wrong. Arturo was handed a good old fashioned whipping by Gomez. Was Gomez that good or had Arturo slipped more then I realized ? This remains to be seen. No doubt that Gomez has stepped up. How far he will go remains to be seen. It is now painfully obvious though that Arturo Gatti has reached the end of line. He may not have gone out a winner but he'll always be remembered as a great warrior by the fans. Goodbye Arturo... jimsboxing@zoominternet.net
|
|
You Are Visitor |
|
