Frazer Clarke will face Igors Vasiljevs in Bournemouth on July 30 in his second professional fight.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic medalist will look to get a second victory under his belt after defeating late replacement Jake Darnell on the undercard of Amir Khan's defeat to Kell Brook. Clarke was announced by promotion BOXXER to be competing on the undercard of the domestic cruiserweight clash between Chris Billam-Smith and Isaac Chamberlain on the south coast.
Clarke has confirmed that he will take on Latvian star Vasiljevs next weekend, who fought heavyweight propsect Thomas Carty on a previous Matchroom Boxing bill. And the British heavyweight is relishing the opportunity to move on his career quickly in a bid to reach British title level. "It has not been ideal having a hand injury in boxing but it is healing well," Clarke told Mirror Fighting . "These things take time there is still a risk but it is where I need it to be to return to the ring.
"It has been frustrating but you can't dwell on these things too much. I am excited to get back in there and get the feeling back of actual competition. We have got an opponent Igors Vasilijevs who boxed Thomas Carty on the Matchroom show. It is what I love doing competing and I am really excited to get back in there."
Clarke nearly missed out on making his professional debut last time out but Darnell stepped in having previously planned to attend the show as a fan. As expected Clarke ended the fight early in a complete mismatch but finally stepped away from his Olympic past and into the professional ranks.
The British heavyweight then suffered a hand injury which has threatened to derail his early progress further, but after surgery Clarke has since made a return to training ahead of his ring return. Clarke has continued work at Loughborough University alongside coach Angel Fernandez who also coaches former two-time world champion Anthony Joshua.
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Joshua has also appointed Robert Garcia to his training team for the looming heavyweight rematch against Oleksandr Usyk. Clarke has also been working alongside Garcia, who has trained 14 world champions in the US. Clarke has admitted that Garcia has been a great role model to work with despite having no direct role in his training camp.
"Being around him and listening to the way he works and things he say has been great," Clarke continued. "He is a top coach, he is very experienced and he knows how things need to be done in a gym because he has been there and done it himself. He has had 14 world champions, that is a great number and it really speaks himself.
"He hasn't been working directly with me but he has been a great influence in the gym. I have also been working with Angel Fernandez for over a year now. It has been a team effort at Loughborough University, but with Angel he is fantastic and has huge ambitions."
Frazer Clarke features on the undercard of Chris Billam-Smith v Issac Chamberlain, live on Sky Sports on Saturday 30th July.
