Many experts say he had the fastest hands in the ring. Chris Clarke, a self-taught boxer with natural abilities, lays claim to an impressive 20-year boxing career. His extraordinary record of 130 wins and nine losses is one that virtually no other Nova Scotian boxer has matched. Clarke began his boxing career in 1967 and by 1975 Clarke became known on the national level, winning the Canadian Amateur Championship and a gold medal at the Pan American Games. Through the defeat of Aaron Pryor, an American fighter who went on to be the World Lightweight Champion, Clarke went down in history as the first Canadian boxer to ever win gold at the Pan American Games.

In 1979, Clarke was involved in one of the most memorable boxing matches ever held in Halifax with the renowned Clyde Gray. Gray was ranked among the best fighters in the world and was defeated by Clarke, who won the British Commonwealth Welterweight Title in front of more than 10,000 fans at the Halifax Metro Centre. Clarke, ranked 10th in the world in the Welterweight class by Ring Magazine, also won the Canadian Welterweight Title that year. He was ranked 16th in the world in the Junior Middleweight class by Ring Magazine in 1980 and 1981, where he went on to win the Canadian Middleweight Title in 1981.