{"id":458769,"date":"2026-02-07T01:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T01:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/458769\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T01:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T01:44:10","slug":"ste-clarke-on-the-sparring-sessions-that-shaped-him-ahead-of-lewis-howells-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/458769\/","title":{"rendered":"Ste Clarke on the sparring sessions that shaped him ahead of Lewis Howells clash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Middleweight prospect Ste Clarke has only benefited from sharing \u2018invaluable\u2019 rounds with the likes of Callum Smith, Liam Smith and Caoimhin Agyarko.<\/p>\n

We are often told that \u2018sparring is sparring\u2019, and that, because of this, it is hardly worth speaking about any behind-closed-doors encounter.<\/p>\n

But when a young fighter, like Clarke, has moved around with former world champions such as the Smith brothers, as well as a world-ranked contender like Agyarko, their career suddenly becomes a little more intriguing.<\/p>\n

Speaking with Boxing News, Clarke insists that his sparring with Callum and Liam Smith, in particular, has allowed him to enter each fight with an extra layer of confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an amateur, I sparred with Liam a couple times, and I\u2019ve shared a few rounds with Callum in the pros.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s invaluable experience and they\u2019re always speaking to you after, giving you pointers, so it\u2019s great to have that type of support around you.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say I got the better of them [he jokes] but it does obviously give you confidence, because your opponent\u2019s not going to be as good as them [at this level].\u201d<\/p>\n

Still in the development phase of his career, Clarke will enter his ninth professional outing on the undercard of Nick Ball\u2019s WBA featherweight title defence against Brandon Figueroa<\/a> this Saturday.<\/p>\n

Ordinarily, the 24-year-old shares a gym with Agyarko, training under the tutelage of former world title challenger Stephen Smith, and while, for this particular camp, the Belfast man has not been available for sparring, Clarke nonetheless looks forward to the day when he, like Agyarko, is sitting on the cusp of a major opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cCaoimhin\u2019s got a fight [against Brandon Adams] in April and he\u2019s only just [come back to the gym], so I haven\u2019t been able to do any rounds with him for this camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve done rounds with him before, and obviously I\u2019m in the gym training alongside him, so it\u2019s great experience because I think you become your environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he can achieve it, I can achieve it, so hopefully one day I\u2019ll be in a position like he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

While such ambitions remain instrumental to a fighter\u2019s progression, Clarke, for now, must continue to refine his craft at a steady pace.<\/p>\n

In a year or so down the line, though, the Liverpudlian is likely to start challenging for domestic titles, perhaps even against one of his former amateur foes.<\/p>\n

A rubber match with English middleweight champion Jimmy Sains, and an opportunity to exact his revenge on Joel Bartell \u2013 who holds the Southern Area title \u2013 are two potential options, for the future, that would certainly capture the interest of Clarke.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose fights excite me; I\u2019d 100% be up for them in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll be good fights for the middleweight division, maybe for the English, British\u2026 Who knows what title?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was one a piece with Jimmy and then Joel Bartell beat me, but I thought I nicked it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps Clarke will have the opportunity to settle their score down the line, but first, he must extend his unblemished record against Lewis Howells at Liverpool\u2019s Echo Arena.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Middleweight prospect Ste Clarke has only benefited from sharing \u2018invaluable\u2019 rounds with the likes of Callum Smith, Liam…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":["post-458769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}