Colour Line Greats - Jeff Clarke

Following on from my Jack Blackburn and in what may or may not become a series thought I would write a little about some of the fighters denied their dues as victims of the colour line. My thinking here is not to focus on the more high profile guys like Langford, Burley and Wills for who countless words and threads have been offered (mainly by me but you get the idea) but to focus on the guys who are arguably no less talented but for who history has not been as kind to and to my mind I can think of no better place to start than with former middleweight contender Jeff Clarke.

As is often the case with black fighters at the turn of the century records of Jeff's early career are sketchy at best and it is not until he arrived in Philadelphia in 1908 that we can begin with any accuracy to track his career. Some eraly competitive losses against the likes of
Dixie Kid got Jeff some early attention but it was not until he was matched with the ageing but still reasonably dangerous Irish heavtyweight Peter Maher that Jeff reaally found himselves on the lips of fight fans, Jeff toyed with the more experienced Maher even knocking him down in the second en route to a clear newspaper verdict, no mean feat for a virtual novice of little more than 150 lbs, to prove it was no fluke Jeff whipped Maher again in early 1909 to mark him out as a man on the up.

After a couple of losses to Dixie Kid, one quite emphatic and a few less than inspiring performances Jeff decided on a change of scene and decamped to Memphis where he hooked up with long time manager Jimmy Bronson. Although Bronson was initially unimpressed with Jeff he promoted regular shows locally and was running out of opponents for his star fighter Al Gray so matched Jeff with Gray, local experts gave him little chance but Jeff proved them all wrong by tying Gray in knots and establishing himself as the new star of Bronson's stable and with good reason, in his nine month run at the camp Jeff fought 25 fights, winning 22, drawing 3 and scoring 16 ko's, however that run was snapped when Bronson imported the wrong guy for Jeff, one Sam Langford, and a Sam Langford at the absolute peak of his powers no less and it indeed proved a bridge too far with the ref rescuing Jeff in the second.

After licking his wounds for a month on the back of this loss Jeff rebounded by beating a young Battling Levinsky out of sight (he was then fighting as Barney Williams) drawing with Joe Jeannette and also getting a draw against middleweight contender Frank Mantell in a fight most thought clarke has won out of sight. Despite having rebounded from the Langford defeat and beaten some good guys what Clarke wanted more than anything was a crack at the middleweight championship which was still in confusion following the untimely death of Stanley Ketchel. His claims for such a title were strengthened when he gained national press for winning a clear newspaper decision over Joe Jeanette,despite being outweighed by 30 pounds.

Whilst many fighters claimed the middleweight title in the wake of Ketchels' death such as Papke, Gibbons, Mcgoorty and Klaus what unites them all was their unwillingness to prove these claims against Jeff Clarke to the extent that when Bronson publically offered to back Jeff to beat any of the middleweights to the tune of $10000 not one of them took up the offer. Jeff was back to doing what he had done for years facing and beating club fighters and risking his health when hideously outweight against heavies. The latter of these included in 1913 a young Harry Wills, with Jeff never more impressive in beating the soon to be great Wills who said of Jeff "Jeff showed me things that night I never thought I would see - and things I would never see again, he was a master"

Jeff followed this up in 1914 with one of the more satisfying nights of his career when he reversed his loss to Sam Langford with the LA Times reporting Jeff had "fought rings around Langford" an acheivement only truly put in perspective that Sam came into the fight with a record of 94-2 over the previous seven years. Whilst the revenge was undoubtedly sweet Jeff was getting no closer to a title shot and frustrated by his inability to secure one he decamped to Panama City where he made decent money fighting regularly against the best the country had to offer whoever passed through. Although he was to return to the States in 1915 he was the wrong side of 30 and his middleweight frame had filled out to a fleshy 180lbs and his form began to reflect both his age and his condition, for Clarke his best days were clearly behind him.

However like all fighters who carry on too long the record in their later years should not detract from their greatness at their peak and at his best Clarke was almost certainly the best middleweight in the world and more than a match for the better heavyweights, a view best expressed by an editorial which appeared in the Colarado City Gazette in early 1914 which read "Discrimination against the negro in prizefighting is declared by sport followers in the middlewest and south to be the only reason why the middleweight championship of today is a matter of confusion. Were it not for that discrimination some sports writers have declared that Jeff Clarke "the fighting ghost" would stand alone in that division of the fight game"

fantastic read - will look up later this month when work isn't so busy. Puts it into perspective dont it - how many sports nowaday moan about refs, injuries, promoters and trainers - offering a million excuses as to why he isnt at the place he ought to be - then you look back and see the great fighters held back by being born the wrong colour.

Rowley should go on Mastermind with his knowledge of the period.......

Must admit I'd never heard of him......but he sounds class..

Can't claim too muh credit Truss, have just got a massive book about the era, am nicking most of it from there.

You amuse me.....

How else are you going to learn about the period????

Not HG Wells are you ??????