BOSTON (July 28, 2006) – The Clancy brothers, unbeaten heavyweight James Clancy (8-0, 1 KO) and undefeated cruiserweight Mark Clancy (5-0-1, 1 KO), are coming off their most impressive performances and preparing with renewed vigor for their next fights. The Clancys moved to Boston from their native Clare, Ireland in 2001, but since turning professional, their boxing careers had been more frustrating than productive, at least until July 7 in historic Plymouth, when they both turned in career defining efforts after a series of mishaps and misfortunates.
James was a five-time Irish National champion as an amateur and one of his victims was current Irish heavyweight champion Kevin McBride, who is a close friend of James and Mark that also lives in the Boston area.
James’ scheduled fight against Boston police officer Tyrone Smith (5-1-1, 2 KOs), former New England Golden Golves champion, on the May 13 Ricky Hatton-Luis Collazo undercard at the TD Bank North Garden (aka Boston Garden) was cancelled as James was leaving his dressing room to fight, when the promoter cancelled four scheduled matches because they wouldn’t have started until after midnight (1 ½ union fees). Clancy had sold nearly 300 tickets worth more than $17,000 in sales.
James, however, was able to resurrect his fight against Smith in Plymouth, where he outboxed his opponent from start to finish, winning a unanimous six-round decision (60-54, 60-54, 58-56). “I felt so good I could have fought two more rounds,” James said. “I won five rounds. Smith said he won the fight and I got the decision. I immediately offered him a rematch, but he said he wanted to fight my brother.
“I changed my style and used my jab a lot more to set up everything else. I worked the body and did just about everything I wanted to do. It was something I worked very hard for and I’m hoping that this win will be a stepping stone for me. I threw more combinations and was much more accurate. I’m working on being a more complete fighter and my last fight a good start.”
Mark was supposed to fight April 20 against Andrew “Came To Fight” Hutchinson at the Manhattan Center, but Clancy injured his knee in an accident, ironically, after the weigh in and he was under doctor’s orders not to fight. Hutchinson refused to fight Mark on July 7, but Clancy was able to fight on the same card as his brother James for only the third time as pros.
In a complete boxing metamorphisis, Mark registered his first knockout as a pro, stopping Robert Irizarry in the third round (2:35) of their scheduled six-round bout in Plymouth.
“I was more aggressive in the ring,” Mark explained his dramatic change in style. “I had been waiting for my opponent to come to me like in the amateurs. I’d heard a lot of different names, but it didn’t matter who I fought that night. I felt confident; I knew I’d get a knockout. I just wanted to put what happened to me in New York behind me.
“I trained very hard. One fear I’ve had was tiring, but I had plenty of sparring, 30 rounds with James, and more rounds with another heavyweight at the gym. My trainer, Gif (Jimmy Gifford), told me to work the body. I’m not a big body puncher, but I really worked at it the two months leading up to my last fight, and I hurt him to the body. Once I did I started going to the body even more. It was a six round fight – I stopped him in the third – but I felt like I could have boxed eight rounds.”
James and Mark Clancy are anxiouxly awaiting their next fights, hopefully in late August or September. Any promoters looking for Irish fighters with passionate a fan base can look to Boston and The Fightin’ Clancy Brothers.