Friday night, the boxing world caught a glimpse of the talents and swagger of one Samuel “The Main Event” Clarkson. While many boxing fans and pundits were taken aback by the upstart’s performance Friday night on Showtime’s ShoBox: The Next Generation, boxing fans in Texas have long known that Clarkson is one of the most exciting young boxers on the scene today.
Of course, if you have followed the North Texas boxing scene for any length of time then you are well aware of the talents of Clarkson. Blessed with a unique blend of speed, power, and confidence, Clarkson has been making a name for himself in Dallas dating back to his days as an amateur. Upon turning pro, Clarkson has been on a tear, and though his supreme confidence in his power and penchant for trying for the knockout has bitten him in the ass a few times, by most local metrics his 3 losses are not telling of any limitations.
This brings us to this past Friday night. On the first televised fight of the ShoBox card at the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, PA, Clarkson would face his most decorated opponent to date in Jerry Odom. Odom has been widely considered a bonafide prospect at super middleweight and seemed poised to make some big waves in the sport. At least, that’s how the ShoBox announcers framed the narrative prior to the opening bell.
Early on, one could see some validity in the gushing praise they shared of Odom. Odom is fully capable to win a title. He has good foot work, deft defense, and real boxing skill. Against a lesser foe this would have been a true showcase. However, Clarkson has these same qualities, is bigger, perhaps stronger, and has the confidence to shake off any internal doubt about his chances of victory. The last of which was put to good use as Odom had a very productive opening round where he backed up Clarkson with some laser-accurate shots early on.
The second round looked to follow the pattern of the first. However, Clarkson was undaunted and with 20 seconds left in the round floored Odom with a hard right uppercut. Odom bounced up immediately but it was clear that the tide was turning in the fight. At the start of the third round Clarkson pounced and dropped Odom again with yet another uppercut. Odom, again, jumped up but he was clearly on shaky legs. Clarkson unleashed hell on his injured opponent, dropping him again with a hook. Upon beating the count, Odom was met with more flurries and while he bravely tried to weather the Clarkson storm the referee had seen enough and waived a halt to the bout.
They called it an upset, but Texas boxing fans know this was far from that.
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