Cheavon Clarke and Efetobor Apochi during their fight on Saturday, August 31, 2024 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Photo credit: Melina Pizano/Matchroom.
It wasn’t an ideal close to the fight, but Cheavon Clarke will be happy to take the end result.
A strong surge by Efetobor Apochi was not enough to upset the unbeaten Jamaican-British prospect in their bruising cruiserweight affair. Clarke won in his American debut via majority decision victory
Judge Jerry Cantu (95-95) had it even after ten action-packed rounds. Judges Ron Scott Stevens (98-92) and Jonathan Davis (97-93) had it for Clarke in their DAZN bout that aired Saturday at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Apochi presented a credible account of himself early and late. Clarke was tested for the first time as a pro, which was also his first career fight outside the UK.
Clarke almost had a knockout in a one-sided eighth round. Apochi somehow stayed upright after taking a left hook to the chin and a right hand to the temple. Clarke went on the attack, to the point where he appeared to knock himself out at the end of the round.
Action slowed for the first time in the ninth, which worked to Apochi’s advantage. Clarke boxed more around, clearly in an attempt to get his second wind.
It worked, until it didn’t.
Apochi rocked Clarke with a temple shot late in the round. There wasn’t enough time in the round to finish him off, though Apochi was still able to get in a few shots before the clock
The momentum carried over into the final round. Apochi took the fight to Clarke, who stood his ground when needed and finished just enough to reduce Apochi’s output. This resulted in Apochi suffering his third narrow decision loss as all of his wins have come by knockout.
Clarke improved to 10-0 (7 knockouts) with the win. It was the third time in just ten pro bouts that the 33-year-old cruiserweight went the ten-round distance.
Also on the show, Robert Garcia-trained Arturo Cardenas (15-0-1, 8 KOs) survived a major gut check in a ten-round split decision victory over Jesus Arechiga.
The all-Mexico fight saw Arechiga (21-2, 15 KOs) win by a score of 96-94 on one card. It was topped by scores of 98-92 and 96-94 for Cardenas, who defeated Danny Barrios by majority decision just two months ago.
Both fights served on the undercard of the Diego Pacheco-Maciej Sulecki super middleweight crossover clash.
