Patrick Clarke dedicates June 10 fight to ‘Uncle’ Ray Dennis

On June 10 Clarke (2-6) will fight to bring the Australian Boxing Federation (ABF) Australasian Super Light belt home to Palm with a bout against undefeated Townsville fighter Jalen Tait (12-0).

In doing so Clarke would become the fifth boxer hailing from the Aboriginal Shire, 90 minutes off Townsville’s shore, to win a national title as a professional.

Clarke, 28, was a timid, skinny youth when legendary Palm Island boxing trainer Ray Dennis invited him to lace up the gloves in 2009.

So began a 14-year journey that led Clarke to conquer his demons, make his professional boxing debut and, next Saturday, earn his shot at boxing immortality via an internationally recognised belt.

Clarke will start as a heavy underdog against Tait but that is nothing new.

The Pride of Palm has been the underdog through every step of his journey.

“I used to get bullied in my school days. That’s why I had a crack at boxing,” Clarke said.

“It (continued) a while. A bit of drama. I was a harmless, shy kid and boxing brought me up.

“Uncle Ray (Dennis) came up to me and asked if I’d try boxing and I thought it would be a fun thing to do. My confidence grew and they started to respect me after I picked up boxing.”

Palm Island, described in 1916 as an ideal prison for “Aboriginies with attitude” by Queensland’s Chief Protector, has produced champions by the dozen in the amateur ranks.

Through the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, Palm fighters made their mark on the professional scene as well.

The arrival of Dennis on Palm in the ‘90s triggered a fresh wave of boxing talent, with Clarke now following in the footsteps of local boxing greats George Bracken and Jack Hassen to fight professionally.

Dennis’ role in Clarke’s boxing journey will be honoured before the bout with Tait at Quayside Terminal in South Townsville.

Dennis had planned to walk to the ring with Clarke and his children, Ernest and Patrick Jnr until his death on Thursday, aged 86.

“Uncle Ray taught me about life and growing up to be a good person,” Clarke said.

“When I fight Jalen Tait on June 10 I’ll be doing it to make Uncle Ray and my two sons proud. They will be the main people I think about on the night.”

PALM ISLAND’S TOP PRO FIGHTERS

Ron Richards

Boxing Record: 96-26-10 (Years Active: 1928-1945)

Ipswich-born but claimed as a Palm Islander after 17 years detained on Palm from 1947 to 1964. Richards was inducted into the Australian Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003. He won Australian Middle, Light Heavy and Heavy championships.

George Bracken

41-15-3 (1953-1962)

“Boxing is one of the few places where an Aborigine can be treated as an equal,” ­Bracken once told the legendary Lionel Rose.

“Because, with our people, we all started life behind the eight ball.”

Bracken was born on Palm in 1934 and rose to national acclaim in Jimmy Sharman’s travelling boxing trouple, following in the footsteps of Jack Hassen.

He won the Australian Lightweight championship twice, and was described as an accurate and effective puncher.

Perhaps even greater than his feats in the ring was his mentoring of Rose, arguably the finest Indigenous athlete of all time.

Jack Hassen

32-8 (1943-1951)

Hassen won the Australian Lightweight championship in 1949, seven years before fellow Palm boxer George Bracken accomplished the same.

Born in Cloncurry but orphaned before his third birthday, Hassen was raised on Palm before joining Jimmy Sharman’s troupe.

Hassen was renowned as a powerful puncher, with his championship bout ending in tragedy when Lightweight championship opponent Archie Kemp was killed from injuries sustained in the ring.

It was reported Hassen’s heart was lost to boxing afterwards; he lost six of his next eight fights, having started his career 30-2.

Doug Sam

24-7 (1982-2000)

A Commonwealth Games silver medallist Middleweight at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Sam fought for the IBF World super middleweight title in 1987.

He remains the closest a Palm Islander has come to becoming a world champion boxer.

Sam came out of an eight-year retirement to win the Australian National Boxing Federation Queensland Cruiserweight title in his final fight in 2000, two months shy of his 40th birthday.

As a younger man Sam had claimed the Australian Super Middleweight belt.

Alfie Clay

15-13-4 (1949-1953)

Rated by one pundut as Australia’s best boxer of the ‘40s and ‘50s not to hold a national title.

After cutting his teeth in Townsville, Clay travelled to Sydney where punched his name into the record books in Sydney.

He fought 16 foreign fighters at Sydney’s Festival Hall.

Gerald Thompson Jnr

9-11 (1978-1986)

Thompson fought in 10 Australian title fights across the Light Fly, Fly, Super Fly and Bantamweight divisions, winning three (all Light Fly: 1978, 1982 and 1985).

Patrick Clarke

2-6 (2020-present)

A former victim of schoolboy bullying who fought to win respect.

On June 10 he fights Jalen Tait for the Australian Boxing Federation (ABF) Australasian Super Light belt.

Peter Bonner

1-1 (2008-2009)

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Townsville boxing sensation plots rise to the top

Nick Wright

The first professional boxer to emerge from Palm Island since Doug Sam in the 1980s.

Bonner was knocked out on pro debut and returned serve in his second fight.

Bonner never returned to the ring.

Originally published as Patrick Clarke dedicates June 10 fight to ‘Uncle’ Ray Dennis