Cheavon Clarke denies being under ‘pressure’ ahead of Viddal Riley showdown

Exclusive: Clarke believes Riley is yet to face someone of his ‘caliber’

Cheavon Clarke believes his bout against Viddal Riley “isn’t pressure, it’s a privilege”.

Riley will challenge Clarke for the British cruiserweight title on the undercard for the hotly anticipated main event between Chris Eubank Jr and Connor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 26th.

Clarke acknowledged his opponent has “some skill and can look after himself” but is looking to embrace the occasion.

The 34-year-old told the Independent: “This isn’t pressure, it’s a privilege. You know what pressure is? Pressure is not being able to feed your family, not being able to have dinner.

“Obviously, there is a stake in this where winning takes you somewhere else but there is no pressure here - this is privilege.”

Clarke feels he has developed a “reputation of going for war” in the ring but explained that he will be boxing “smart” at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“I think that has come from people who don’t understand boxing,” Clarke said. “I think if people have a braincell they’d be able to see that I fight the way that I need to fight to get the win. What we can expect is a win, I’ll get the win in whatever means are needed.”

The 27-year-old Riley, who is undefeated in 12 fights, has amassed over a million followers across YouTube and Instagram but Clarke is not concerned by his activity on social media in the lead up to their fight.

“He most likely needs to do all of this stuff on social media because I am more advanced than him,” he told the Independent. “I’ve challenged at a higher level. People say that he’s got a big following, and I hear that, but following on social media doesn’t always translate to selling tickets.”

Cheavon Clarke in the ring (National Lottery)

Clarke, who won a bronze medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, explained: “I’ve travelled to fight, fighting guys that have challenged for higher belts. There’s experience there as a professional, but also as an amateur. I think people are overlooking that and we’ll address it when it needs to be.

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“My following goes deep, [my fans] have followed me across the world when I’ve fought.”

Clarke is fighting for the first time since his loss to Leonardo Mosquea in December but believes he is coming back stronger from the only defeat of his professional career.

“My training camp has been excellent,” he said. “We had to take it to a new level because I needed to learn some more, that’s just who I am as a person - I want to always improve.

“Whatever I did last time is never good enough going forward. I’ve taken some steps towards improving and I know come fight night people will see that. I think people will be surprised.

“Viddal has got some skill and he can look after himself, but the main thing is he has never fought Cheavon Clarke before. As a professional, I don’t believe he has ever fought somebody of my caliber.”

Clarke is focusing on coming away from Saturday’s bout victorious over Riley instead of looking ahead to his next opponent, emphasising: “We have to handle the business that’s in front of us, if you look too far ahead you might trip yourself up.”

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