Ste Clarke extended his winning run to 11-0 with a points victory over Harley Collison at the AO Arena in Manchester on Saturday night, capping a week in which he announced a promotional agreement with Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions.
The ECHO understands talks over a deal had been ongoing for a while before an agreement was reached in the last couple of weeks. Clarke, who is trained by Stephen Smith, last fought in April on the undercard of Molly McCann's win over Ashleigh Johnson.
The former Rotunda ABC man was handed a scare that night at the M&S Bank Arena as he was put down in the fourth round. However, Clarke had no such problems against Collison, winning every round of the eight-round contest.
Dominant display and title ambitions
Referee Steve Gray scored the contest 80-72 in Clarke's favour. The 25-year-old is now looking to land a shot at the Central Area middleweight title early next year and believes Queensberry can secure the big nights he wants.
“I am looking forward to working with them and I think they can push me now,” Clarke said on working with Queensberry. “I think that was the missing piece in my career was having promotional backing so now I have got that they can push me to bigger fights next year.”
Hutchinson becomes WBC champion
In the main event at the AO Arena, Willy Hutchinson became the new WBC light-heavyweight champion after beating Joshua Buatsi. Hutchinson edged the tense rematch, with the judges scoring the fight 117-112, 115-113, 115-113 in his favour as he avenged his defeat by Buatsi in 2024.
Hutchinson said: "I was 13 years old when I said I would become the WBC champion of the world. Buatsi is a good fighter but I should have beaten him two years ago. But we got the job done with balls of steel! I have had so many ups and downs, I have done it for so many people, my nanny and grandad. I came from the woods in Scotland! I came from nothing."
Undisputed ambitions
Hutchinson now has his eyes on the other three world titles, which are held by Dmitry Bivol and to be defended against Callum Smith on December 12 in Russia. He said: “Go for undisputed. We want to beat the best. And I’m one of the best now. Got one of the belts. Who else has got a belt now? Bivol, and Smith. They have the belts. So, we’d be open for a winner of them two.”
