Frazer Clarke has kicked off a trial with potential new trainer Joe Gallagher after splitting with Angel Fernandez.

The British heavyweight contender suffered the second defeat of his career when he dropped a split decision after 12 brutal rounds with Jeamie TKV in Derby on November 29.

Now Clarke (9-2-1, 7 KOs) has told The Ring he has parted ways with Fernandez as he attempts to get his career back on track in 2026. The Burton man had been working with the Loughborough based coach since he turned professional in late 2021.

But he has decided to seek pastures new after deciding he wants ‘more experience’ in his corner. That has led him to Gallagher, the Manchester stalwart who has trained numerous world champions across more than two decades at the top. It is understood that they are still working through an initial trial but Clarke is already feeling at home at Manchester’s legendary Champ’s Camp gym.

Clarke told The Ring: “After my last fight I just felt like I needed a change and some more experience in my corner.

“Angel taught me a lot of things in our time together but it came to a point after taking that particular loss [to TKV] that I felt I needed someone different, a different voice.

“I needed to freshen things up and I felt like I needed to be in a team environment again. I was the only fighter in my previous gym so I wanted to switch that up.

“So I’ve been training with Joe Gallagher for the last couple of weeks and I’ve really enjoyed it. Just being around the stable, with different fighters, it has been more of a vibe and it’s something that I’ve really enjoyed so far.

“I came out of Team GB after 15 years as part of a squad where I really flourished so it’s good to feel like I’m back in that kind of environment again. It feels like an environment that will really bring the best out of me, which is what I need.”

Clarke and TKV clashed in the main event of Boxxer’s first ever show on BBC but the Burton man failed to deliver the performance he had promised. And, given he drew and lost to Fabio Wardley in his first two attempts to win the British heavyweight title during 2024, he has now failed in three cracks at the Lonsdale belt.

So 34-year-old ‘Big Fraze’ wasted no time in making his decision to leave Fernandez and insists his split was an amicable one.

He said: “We spoke about my decision and I have nothing but thanks for Angel. He was quite understanding about it and there were no hard feelings there. Now it’s time to move onto a new chapter and it has gone well so far.

“Once I made the decision I was thinking of a few different people and Joe got mentioned to me. I like him a lot, he is very straight talking and I needed some home truths. I’ve been in there two weeks now and I’ve definitely had my fair share of them already.”

Although things have been going well so far, Clarke is yet to officially make the move to Ring Magazine's 2015 Trainer of the Year, Gallagher. After taking a break for Christmas and New Year with his family, Clarke is now plotting a path back to the ring within the next four or five months which means he will likely land on one of the Boxxer shows planned for April 4 or May 2.

“In my last fight I went off the game plan and made it into a brutal fight,” Clarke added. “The advice from doctors is to not return until April so that’s the date I’ve got in my head now I’m back training.”

His promoter Ben Shalom is confident that Clarke, who won bronze at the delayed 2020 Olympics, is capable of working his way back towards the top of a bustling domestic heavyweight scene.

He said: “It was a terrible performance last time out. He came out gung-ho and fought the fight in a way that he shouldn't have and Jeamie did extremely well. But Frazer, performance-wise, was not what you would expect from an Olympian, from a fighter that's shown that he can mix it with the top guys. He'll have to make a big change, but he wants to make a big change.

“You could tell from his performance that something wasn’t right. It was the worst I’ve seen him box and he has to take that on himself. He'll make whatever changes he needs, but ultimately, it's got to come from himself. We'll see what it's like when he comes back but I've got full faith that he will come back in a big way.”