Henry Clark 'The West Coast Cassius Clay'

Sure because a face first slugger, who is slow of foot and hand and more well known for being a sparring partner than a contender is feared by everyone?

I cant stand it when people claim a fighter who could not beat the level of competition he was stuck at was ducked. I dont recall anyone ducking Lincoln and I dont recall any claims by any of the press that any of the top fighters SHOULD be fighting him but were avoiding him.

Why is it that you keep claiming these third raters were ducked by everyone? Its like saying Jose Ribalta was ducked by everyone, or Shane Cameron.

 

Even if that were true it doesnt necessarily mean he was "ducked" the context is everything and you provide no context, or only the context that suits your conclusions.

How much money was offered? What were the terms? Were there scheduling conflicts? Were the terms offered realistic given the size of the venue, or the promotion? Did injuries prevent? Did promotional conflicts prevent it?

There are literally hundreds of factors that can prevent a fight from happening and outright ducking is probably one of the rarest.

I can offer Mike Tyson 100 million dollars to come out of retirement right now and fight me at Ohio State Fairgrounds. If he turns me down does that mean he is ducking me? Can the venue and the television revenue actually support my offer of 100 million?

Maybe I didnt offer him 100 mil, maybe I offered him ten thousand dollars. If he turns down a fight with me for ten thousand dollars is he ducking me or is it simply that my purse wasnt big enough for him?

Maybe the offer is solid but there isnt enough time to promote the fight well enough to bring in enough people to generate the revenue necessary to get paid.

Dont assume that because an "offer" was made it means anything more than a press release to get a guys name in the papers.

Dont over simplify everything and say all of these guys were ducking A, B, and C. Floyd Patterson fought Sonny Liston and Muhammad Ali, he wasnt scared of Henry Clark. Jerry Quarry fought Joe Frazier, Ali, Lyle, Shavers, Ellis and many many many more that were better than Clark, he was not afraid of him.

Henry Clark had three fights in 1966 and didnt win any of them. He had never defeated anyone of note so why would anyone be ducking him. If anything they probably said "go get a reputation first."

You said yourself: you werent going to look good against him. Spoilers arent exactly sought after as opponents or by promoters.

The fact is that Clark had ability but he was a head case. He was very erratic and had a sense of self worth that was beyond inflated. Combine that with the fact that he could never maintain the level of concentration necessary to fulfil the promise he occasionally showed and you have a guy who wasnt going to light the world on fire or have the promoters chasing after him.

 

Pepe, you really know how to make a good fighter seem great. I bet you could sell ice cubes to an Eskimo.

 

You like to tell people to stick to the timeline, well, you said in 1966 Ali ducked Clark. In 1966 Clark didnt win a single fight.

Its as simple as that. You can list all of those winning fights he had but look who he was fighting.

Anybody can go undefeated against Dusty Trunks, Willie Continue, and Kenny Getup.

 

No, you said:

"June 1966,

The 21 year-old Henry Clark was riding his 'unbeaten streak' to '9', and
the San Franciso Heavyweight was already getting 'a look see' by the
Heavyweight Champion - Cassius Clay.

Since his 'first-3' tester bouts, 'Henry the Gunslinger' was another one of the
hot 'west coast' fighters that the Champion 'planned' to avoid.

The west coast was hearing that Clay only wanted to fight 'old guys'
or 'fading fighters' from Canada or England."

Thats creative language because while Clark was riding an unbeaten streak in june of 66, he was also riding a two, soon to be three, unwinning streak and had not yet faced anyone of note. So why exactly would Ali have been planning ahead of time to avoid a guy who was untested and who wouldnt win a single fight in 1966, the year you reference.

 

I want those guys to have a box off with super human power.

 

:happy

Go Stevie, Go Stevie, Go Stevie

 

And the referee slung them both out for lack of action,and declared it a no contest.