Frazer Clarke vs Mariusz Wach Preview June 16, 2023
Unbeaten Frazer Clarke, who won a bronze medal for England as a super heavyweight at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, will be taking a step up in class on Friday, June 16th when he meets Mariusz Wach of Krakow, Poland. The 10-rounder from York Hall in London, England can be seen live on Sky Sports Action in the UK. Clarke last saw action in March when he halted Bogdan Dinu after two rounds. Wach fought just two weeks ago and snapped a three-fight losing skid by stopping Jakub Sosinski in the fifth round.
CLARKE VS WACH BETTING ODDS
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Mariusz Wach +800
- Frazer Clarke -1500
MY PICK
The 31-year-old Clarke boasts a perfect mark of 6-0 with 5 Ko’s and has just 16 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2022. He’s stopped Jake Darnell in one round, Ariel Bracamonte in two, Pencho Tsvetkov in one, Kevin Espinodla in four and Bogdan Dinu in two while being taken the six-round distance by Kamil Sokolowski. Clarke’s first five opponents entered the ring with a combined record of 36-40 while Dinu was 20-4 so he’s taking a slight step up in class again against Wach.
Clarke stands 6-feet-6-inches tall with an unlisted reach and has shown pretty good power as a pro, although against limited opposition, as his current knockout ratio stands at 83.3 per cent. Clarke won numerous medals as an amateur where he had wins over Lenier Pero, Sergey Kuzmin and Tony Yoka but was stopped by Joe Joyce a couple of times as well as being beaten on points by Joyce. He also lost decisions to Yoka, Joseph Parker, Otto Wallin and Anthony Joshua.
Wach is a 43-year-old veteran and is actually the bigger boxer here as he’s just over 6-feet-7-inches tall and has a wingspan of 82 inches. He’s an inch taller than Clarke and likely has the longer reach. Wach isn’t really a power puncher though with a current knockout ratio of 43.5 per cent and enters the ring with a record of 37-9 with 20 Ko’s. He turned pro in 2005 and has quite a bit of experience with 292 rounds to his name.
Along with being stopped by Jarrell Miller in nine rounds in 2017, he was also stopped by Alexander Povetkin by 12th-round TKO in 2015. In addition, Wach was halted in eight rounds in April, 2019 by Martin Bakole for the vacant Polish International Heavyweight Title. Wach once failed in an attempt at a world title in the past as he dropped a unanimous decision to Wladimir Klitschko in 2012.
His other losses were a 10-round split decision to fellow countryman Artur Szpilka in 2018, a 10-round unanimous decision to Dillian Whyte in 2019, a 10-round unanimous decision to Hughie Fury in 2020, a sixth-round stoppage to Arslanbek Makhmudov in 2022 and a 10-round unanimous decision to Kevin Lerena last September. Wach has been stopped four times in his career and has lost four of his last six bouts.
Most of Wach’s other opponents have mainly been journeymen such as Kevin McBride, Tye Fields, Galen Brown, Jason Gavern, Julius Long, Arthur Cook, Travis Walker and Marcelo Luiz Nascimento. Wach, who has also participated in mixed martial arts, had a good amateur career and was a Polish National Champion. He won a silver medal at the European Union Championships and was an Olympic alternate for Poland in 2004. Since turning pro he’s captured the IBF East/West Europe, WBC International, WBC Baltic, TWBA, and Polish International Heavyweight Titles.
PREDICTION…
Wach is an aging but pretty durable heavyweight who has never been a consistent top-10 contender but has certainly enjoyed some fine moments throughout his career. If he’s at his best he could give Clarke some trouble, but if he’s not in top form I’m expecting Clarke to stop him. Clarke needs a solid test and has to soon step up the level of opposition even further.
I’ll give Clarke the edge here as he’s 12 years younger with more power.
Play Clarke -1500 @ BetOnline.ag
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Frazer Clarke betting • Mariusz Wach betting