New Film Aims to Educate Boxers About Their Financial Health

When boxers reach the pinnacle of their success, their paydays are impressive. You don’t have to be Floyd Mayweather, Canelo Alvarez, or Tyson Fury to make a life-changing amount of money. Then why do so many talented fighters end up in the poorhouse?

Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Riddick Bowe, and Leon Spinks. Each of these distinguished former world heavyweight champions shares a single notorious distinction. Despite earning millions during their careers in the boxing ring, all four went bankrupt.

Two of these three great heavyweights filed bankruptcy: Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. Lennox Lewis avoided this fate.

Add Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Thomas Hearns, Fernando Vargas, and dozens of lesser-known names who’ve also experienced the same fate.

Sports and entertainment manager Adrian Clark’s mission: prevent this from happening to today’s combat sports competitors by teaching them how to avoid financial missteps. Clark’s initiative takes a significant step forward with the debut of his new feature film Protect Yourself At All Times: The Beginning on Thursday, March 30, at the IPIC Theater Fairview in his hometown of Dallas, Texas. The theater is already sold out for the screening, with additional bookings pending.

Watch the film trailer:

Yo Adrian, what’s the story?

“Every other major sport has a players union, council, or voice of protection for the athletes. Unfortunately, boxing does not,” explains Clark. “Not to mention, with the sport not being associated, it makes it very difficult to implement some sort of union.”

Clark himself learned the ropes as a young sports agent just months after graduating from Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi.

“I began my career in sports as a sports agent for basketball. I was able to see through the NBPA (National Basketball Players Association) how they educated their athletes on the business of the sport. The educational rabbit hole went as far as educating the agents on the business of basketball. Going from that experience to the boxing business, it was impossible to not see the void in the fight game,” explains Clark.

Teaching The Business Of Boxing

Agent and manager Adrian Clark saw the need to provide financial education to amateur and professional boxers, and he took it upon himself to make it happen. Photo: Courtesy PYAAT/Adrian Clark

As the culmination of his 12 years of experience in sports and entertainment, Clark created “Protect Yourself at All Times,” an educational initiative designed to educate amateur and professional boxers about the business of boxing and how to protect their financial well-being while pursuing athletic accomplishments.

As a boxing manager and Founder/CEO of AC Sports Management, Clark witnessed firsthand the dangers posed when athletes began earning significant money with little training how to secure their assets from those who would prey on them. AC Sports Management was acquired by Ballengee Group in 2019.

Now, Clark does everything he can to put information in the athlete’s hands. It started with his best-selling book, Protect Yourself at All Times: A Guide for Professional Boxers. But Clark realized a book wasn’t enough to reach his target audience. So, he produced Protect Yourself At All Times: The Beginning, a 45-minute film translating the book’s insights into a more accessible format.

“Honestly, most people don’t read,” said Clark. “In a world where content is king, having an audiobook, web series, and other forms of interactive content is needed to help drive home your message.

“Today’s generation often best absorbs information through visual media. This is why I’ve turned the key concepts in the book into life lessons, depicted through the relationship between a father and son,” said Clark.

From Agent to Author To Filmmaker for Clark

Clark and his son in real life, Ace Clark, play the roles in the film.

Although Clark had never produced a feature film, it didn’t stop him. “This was my debut as a filmmaker, director, and executive producer. While I have no prior experience in the filmmaking industry, that is what made the filmmaking process even more exciting. It was done exactly how I saw it in my head. Not to mention, I had two great production companies (GoodVisualz & SogeTHP Productions) there to help me illustrate my vision,” said Clark.

Clark and his son in real life, Ace Clark, play the roles in the film. The running time is 46 minutes. Clark says he’s remaining “chill and even keel” in the days leading up to the film’s debut on Thursday. “I am sure that feeling will change once I see the theaters full.”

Asked for his single most important piece of advice, Clark offered NY Fights the following: “Don’t chase the money, chase the vision. Set yourself up to where the money chases you.”

To book screenings of Protect Yourself At All Times: The Beginning, contact Clark at adrian@pyaat.org