Jailed boxer ‘The Shark’ suspended by officials

A DUNDEE boxer’s fighting career is in jeopardy after he was jailed for a campaign of intimidation against his former partner.

Ronnie Clark, 32, has been barred from fighting after being given a ninemonth jail term for coercive and controlling behaviour.

The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) confirmed that it has suspended Clark following his sentence.

Nicknamed “The Shark”, the former British super-featherweight title challenger installed spyware on Rebecca Graham’s mobile phone and tried to rule her life even after they had split up, making menacing demands in emails and texts.

Clark previously denied the charge but was convicted by Northallerton magistrates after a trial last month and appeared at Teesside Crown Court for sentencing.

He is among the first to be prosecuted under new laws making it a crime to engage in controlling or coercive behaviour.

Under professional boxing rules, Clark cannot fight again — even after his release from prison — until he appears before the BBBoC.

The board will decide what action to take after hearing evidence gathered at that meeting.

Robert Smith, general secretary of the board, said: “Mr Clark’s boxing licence has been suspended.”

The court heard that Clark and Miss Graham met when she was 13 but their relationship did not begin until 2010 after they were in contact on Facebook.

Miss Graham became pregnant and they moved to Dundee the following year, prosecutor Nigel Soppitt told the court.

Problems arose in 2012 when Miss Graham accused Clark of having affairs and he called her paranoid — but the court heard he fathered a child with another woman.

Clark returned to Scotland i n September 2015, and over the next two months messaged his ex about her relationships.

He bought her a phone that Christmas and the software he put on it showed him who she was sending texts to — and he threatened to kill a man with whom she was in touch.

Clark last boxed professionally in April this year with a points victory in Belfast.

He previously lost to British champion Martin J Ward in London in September 2016.