Clarke vs McCarthy Prediction: Who Will Conquer Belfast?
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Vladislav Tchakarov
Cheavon Clarke will face Tommy McCarthy during the undercard of the Crooker vs Felis Jr event in Belfast this weekend. While no world titles will be on the line this week, this bout will decide the new WBA Inter-Continental Cruiserweight champion. Here is our Clarke vs McCarthy prediction.
Clarke vs McCarthy Prediction: Fighter Analysis
Clarke vs McCarthy Quick Analysis
Despite their identical age (33 years), the fighters have completely different records. Cheavon Clarke stepped on the professional stage in 2022 after a long career in amateur boxing and has only fought 7 times. He won all seven of his fights and remains undefeated.
His opponent, Tommy McCarthy, has comprised a boxing record of 20-5, starting his professional career in 2014. He is entering this contest for the first time since his defeat to Michal Cieslak in April 2023.
Statistically, Clarke should have the power advantage as he finished a higher percentage of his fights via KO/TKO. However, he did fight almost four times less than his opponent. In this case, the percentages are pointless but bookmakers definitely believe that Clarke has the advantage.
Cheavon Clarke Preview
Clarke had some things to say to McCarthy during the pre-fight press conference yesterday. He called his opponent “a clown” and promised to defeat him comfortably. Once a lorry driver, he is now fully focused on his professional boxing career and enters the contest with an unbeaten record of 7-0.
Cheavon was 31 years old when he made his professional debut, an unenviable age to enter the ring. However, he spent most of his life fighting at the amateur level and his experience is actually mad impressive.
Over the years, he won multiple high-profile competitions. In 2016, he beat the current WBO CHampion Chris Billam-Smith to win the English National Championship. In 2017, he won the English National Elite Final and also a silver medal at the European Championships. In 2018, he fought at the Commonwealth Games and even reached the semi-finals.
One second, there's more. In 2019, he participated in the European Games and also reached the quarterfinals of the World Championships. In 2020, he even reached the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Not bad for an amateur, right? Perhaps there is a reason why bookmakers give him the advantage.
Nevertheless, he remains less experienced than his opponent. Clarke has only fought 36 professional rounds in his career to date as opposed to the 153 behind McCarthy.
Tommy has been a professional for nearly ten years but the last three years have been the worst period of his career. He saw red three times in the last five bouts, losing twice to Chris Billam-Smith and once to Michal Cieslak.
We should probably also mention that he has been working as a stand-up comedian outside of boxing. It will be interesting to see how well he prepared for this match. With a professional record of 20-5, with 10 knockouts, he will not be an easy target for Clarke.
In the past, he held the WBC International Cruiserweight title and the European Cruiserweight title. We should also mention that he spent a while in amateur boxing before joining the pros in 2014. He definitely did not achieve as much but we can mention the wins at the Irish National Championships in 2012 and 2013, the quarterfinals in the AIBA World Championships in 2013, and his reaching the final of the Commonwealth Games in 2010.
Clarke vs McCarthy Prediction: Cheavon Remains Undefeated
This is an interesting matchup. Both fighters are the same age and yet their experience is incomparable. McCarthy has the edge and this will be his only advantage. Clarke, however, is far more powerful than him and we believe that he will be looking for that knockout. McCarthy has been knocked out three times in his career and twice in the last couple of years. His chin is not what it once was and the energetic Cheavon will find a way to break it on Saturday.
Vlad is a former amateur MMA fighter. After a series of injuries, he found a different way to connect with the sport and its fanbase - through writing. He's been covering everything-UFC for over 5 years on various platforms and has been part of the team at NYFights since early 2022.
