Lorry driver Cheavan Clarke is gearing up for international honours in the boxing ring this weekend.

Clarke fights for England at the Tri Nations tournament in Scotland having recently won a major national title.

The 25-year-old became only the second Kent boxer after Johnny Armour to win the ABA Elite Championship when he lifted the belt at Liverpool’s Echo Arena.

Now the man who represents Gravesham Boxing Club is stepping through the ropes for his country and his coach Len Trusty believes Clarke can win again.

He said: “If his mind’s on the game, it will take someone special to
beat him.

“The problem with amateur boxing is people have still got to go out and make a living and sometimes that works to the detriment of pushing that talent on.

“That makes the achievement more astonishing, that he’s done it working around his night shifts as a lorry driver.

“He’s always been in the top bracket in England for seven or eight years. He won the elite novices and was coming runner-up and quarter-finals at 81kg.

“This is the first year he’s stepped up to 91kg and he’s won it. He used to have to work hard to keep the weight down to 81kg so the 91kg seems to suit him.”