Frazer Clarke said he was proud of his effort after winning a bronze medal at the Olympic Games. 

The super-heavyweight from Burton-on-Trent bowed out of the tournament after being stopped on cuts in his semi-final against Bakhodir Jalolov, the No 1 seed from Uzbekistan. 

He was trailing on the scorecards at the time but had given Jalolov a standing count in the second round. He went into the bout having suffered cuts over both eyes caused by the head of Mourad Aliev, who was disqualified against him in their quarter-final. 

“It's not the fairy-tale that I wanted but I'm proud of myself, it’s a great effort,” Clarke said. 

“The last six months of my life, I’ve made more sacrifices than I have done over the past 18 years when it comes to boxing. To get in there with one of the best, it’s a pleasure and an honour for me. I'm proud of myself and the whole team.” 

Clarke, 29, is the captain of the Great Britain boxing team, which has won six medals at Tokyo 2020, equalling the mark they set at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp.

Ben Whittaker was confirmed as a bronze medal-winner after losing the light-heavyweight final to Cuba’s Arlen Lopez. Whittaker, Pat McCormack, who won silver at welterweight, and Clarke all now intend to turn professional 

“I’m an Olympic bronze medallist, I never saw that happening for me,” Clarke said. “Congratulations to Jalolov, he’s a great fighter - I gave my best and I’ll able to sleep at night. 

“I’m healthy, my family is healthy, I made the Olympic Games - I couldn’t ask for anything more. 

“I wanted the Olympic final but my picture is on the wall in Sheffield, I’ve done myself proud and my town proud.” 

Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.