Frazer Clarke has named Oleksandr Usyk in his pound-for-pound top three alongside Naoya Inoue and Terence Crawford.
Clarke has been in the world of boxing for several years having had an extensive amateur career which reached its pinnacle when he won a bronze medal at last year's Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The British heavyweight has now turned over as a professional and made a successful start to his career by defeating Jake Darnell in February this year.
The British star has worked with some of Britain's top talent including Joe Joyce and two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua who has been training with him in Loughborough. Clarke is a keen fan of the sport outside of the ring, and believes Joshua's conqueror Usyk has to be considered in the top three providing Tyson Fury is retired. "I really like Inoue I think he is a great fighter he showed that against Nonito Donaire," Clarke told Mirror Fighting in an exclusive chat.
"If we are saying that Fury has retired then you have to put Usyk in there, because he has obviously just won all the titles. And then my last one would be Terence Crawford." Inoue recently defeated Donaire to cement his name on the pound-for-pound list by retaining his unified bantamweight crown.
This saw the Japanese star shoot to the top of many people's rankings especially after Canelo Alvarez recently suffered his second career defeat to Dmitry Bivol. Meanwhile welterweight champion Crawford is also regarded as one of the best fighters in the current crop having yet to be defeated during his time in the professional ranks.
He defeated Shawn Porter late last year and is in talks with Errol Spence Jr over a mega showdown to finally settle their rivalry. Usyk moved up to the blue-riband division after having a hugely successful spell at cruiserweight where he reigned as undisputed champion.
Who do you believe is the pound-for-pound top three currently in boxing? Let us know in the comments section below
The Ukrainian star beat Chisora before becoming the mandatory challenge to Joshua's WBO crown, which he snatched in sensational fashion with a comfortable points victory last year. Now the Ukrainian star is finally set to rematch Joshua with the belts at stake in Saudi Arabia this year, after the fight was delayed following his return home to fight against Russian invasion.
Clarke has been working with Joshua's coach Angel Fernandez once again ahead of his next fight, and has also received advice from Joshua's new addition Robert Garcia. He believes that Garcia has been a valuable asset to Joshua's camp and has shown his experience despite having no direct involvement with Clarke's own preparations.
"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."
Frazer Clarke features on the undercard of Chris Billam-Smith v Issac Chamberlain, live on Sky Sports on Saturday 30th July.
