Tramaine Williams pays tribute to Brian Clark, his first coach, who recently passed away

The sport recently lost Brian Clark, one of Connecticut’s best boxing coaches. 

Clark was 67 years old at the time of his passing on January 26, 2026. He helped countless fighters through the years. 

Most notable were former titleholder Chad Dawson, a light heavyweight who would hold pound-for-pound status in the early 2010s, and Tramaine Williams, a talented amateur who went on to fight Angelo Leo in the pros for a junior featherweight world title. Clark had the most USA Boxing national champions and championships in Connecticut.

“He would rather you become a great person than a great boxer,” Williams told BoxingScene of his first coach. “He was a great person with a good moral compass. He was selfless. He was up there with the best of the best.”

Williams met Clark when he was a child. He learned how to box from him. Then Williams won three consecutive national championships.

“It felt like us against the world at those tournaments,” Williams said. “We didn’t do it once; we did three times, back-to-back-to-back.”

Williams, 20-3 (6 KOs), has had a rough decade. After a distinguished amateur career, Williams would start his pro career away from Clark. In 2020, he’d fight for the WBO junior featherweight belt against Leo. 

In the fight, Clark was embraced by the broadcast team for his raw honesty to Williams, telling him he didn’t have it on that night in the later rounds. 

The words he told Williams afterward are what keeps the boxer going, even as he is stuck on a two-fight losing streak.

With the passing of his mentor and father figure, Clark, the 33-year-old Williams hopes to achieve his dream. A year ago, Clark told Williams he was still destined to become a world champion. 

“I got to complete the mission,” Williams said. “That is what I am living for now.”

Clark, who owned Ring One Boxing in New Haven, Connecticut, was one of the important boxing figures who might not have fully gotten the credit he deserved. 

“I wish he could have seen this,” Williams said. “Sometimes I feel like he was taken for granted, and overlooked when it came to boxing or life in general. I wish he could’ve seen how many people he touched.” 

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.