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Clark to headline card at W.Va. Pen

MOUNDSVILLE — Travis “The Terror” Clark will headline “Judgment Day” on Saturday, Sept. 21, inside the former West Virginia State Penitentiary when he meets 38-year-old Thad Berkhousen in a heavyweight bout scheduled for six rounds.

The 13-fight card is sponsored by Revolution Combat Sports and is a Jim Frio promotion. Doors open at 3:30 p.m., with the first bell at 5.

There will be plenty of diversity as five amateur boxing matches get the night started. There will also be two amateur mixed martial arts bouts, an amateur boxing match, two pro boxing matches, a pro MMA bout, an amateur female boxing match and an amateur female MMA match.

Clark is 13-2 with eight knockouts. His two losses were both by KO.

The 40-year-old Morristown native came out of retirement just a little over a year ago to fight Dell Long for the vacant World Boxing Foundation Intercontinental Heavyweight title. Clark lost by TKO when he couldn’t answer the bell for the sixth round after suffering a serious left arm injury.

“It will be a little more than a year when I get back in there. I am 100 percent healthy. I feel good,” Clark said during an interview last week. “At the beginning of camp I was a little nervous about my health … my arm. There were a couple of days early in camp when I didn’t know if the arm was ready. There were a couple of times, though, that I threw it, landed it and it felt good.

“I feel healthy and I am feeling better every day,” he continued. “My arm is getting stronger and I’m getting healthier and in better shape. I’ve been training hard and training good. I’m ready to take care of business.

“I knew I had a tear in the bicep going into that (last) fight. I didn’t know for sure what was torn … what was going on, but when you’re the main event, the show must go on,” he stressed. “That’s what a lot of these young fighters don’t realize. When you sign a contract, you’re bound to that contract. A lot of these young fighters don’t care what contracts mean anymore. I’m not that guy. All of these people putting enough time and effort in promoting me, so I have to perform.

“I went out there and did what I could for as long as I could,” he added. “Then, in the third round it tore completely off, and in the fifth I couldn’t do anything else.”

He said the bicep actually rolled up into his shoulder area.

“I had surgery to reattach it to the bone. I’m back. I feel strong. I feel good. I feel blessed. I’m happy to be back and fighting in front of my fans in the Ohio Valley.”

Clark has fought three other times since a tough 10-round unanimous decision over Berkhousen on Nov. 19, 2016, at Wheeling Island Hotel, Casino and Racetrack. He is 2-2 with victories over Brandon Hinkle (TKO) and Matt Garrettson (unanimous decision) sandwiched around his initial pro loss (a second round KO) to 25-year-old Olympic gold medlist Tony Yoka in Paris, France.

Berkhousen, 5-6-2, with 1KO, hails from Saint Johns, Mich. He has fought three times since their first meeting, going 1-2.

According to his Facebook account, he wrote, “I’ve been wanting to run this one back.”

Berkhousen’s last outing on March 2 resulted in a second round TKO loss to 23-year-old Ukraine sensation Lyubomyr “Demolition Man” Pinchuk at Priory Grand Hall in Pittsburgh, for the American Boxing Federation USA Cruiserweight title. Pinchuk resides in Pittsburgh and is managed by the same firm as Clark, Michael McSorley, Jr., according to the Website BoxRec.

“I’m excited for the fight. The last time he surprised me a little bit,” Clark said of his opponent. “He’s a big, durable boy who knows how to stay in fights. He was my first title fight and went all 10 rounds. That was one of my first long fights. I’m looking to cut that down some this time around.”

The fight will be a non-title bout.

“I guess the West Virginia State Athletic Commission wants to see if I’m ready to come back,” Clark advised. “I had to forfeit all my titles due to the injury. I was still the West Virginia state heavyweight champion. This is just a stepping stone to getting my belts back.”

Clark said he learned a few things from the first fight with Berkhousen.

“I need to move more. I’ve got to get my head off-center a little and just move more,” he said. “He is really durable. If I get out of the way of his shots and hit him with more shots than he hits me with, I’ll be a lot better off.”

Clark said he planned on retiring again once he reached 40, but being the competitor he is, he said he’s got until April 21st to get a couple of more fights in.

He turns 41 the next day.

“I’m a firm believer that your age is just that … a number. Numbers are numbers. I went through all the testing required by the West Virginia State Athletic Commission for 40-year-olds. I passed all of those. “I had that itch. I’m ready to get in there and go to work.”

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