That triumph over Fanni, however, marked the end - on good terms - of the association between Pat and Londoner Burt McCarthy. But, at this point, elder brother Michael fulfilled his role as gate guardian of Billy Clinton's dream and the elder Clinton went to see Glasgow promoter, Tommy Gilmour junior. Gilmour promised Pat and Michael Clinton a world flyweight title shot after two bouts under his management, plus as an added bonus Pat that would get to work with the ring coach that Billy Clinton had always rated highly, ex-1962 Commonwealth Games featherweight gold medal winner from Blantyre - John McDermott MBE.
And McDermott's take on Pat Clinton? "Pat was technically brililant, gutsy and had an enormous self-belief…"
And so to the Kelvin Hall on 18 March 1992, courtesy of Tommy Gilmour's negotiating skills, John McDermott's brilliant ability to read an opponent and Pat Clinton's burning ambition to make his dad's dream a reality by drubbing yet another Latin boxer, defending champion Isdaore Perez of Mexico.
It wasn't easy that emotion-filled night in the Kelvin Hall. Bringing dreams to fruition never is. After the halfway stage, veteran of 57 bouts Perez forced Pat, who had suffered the old Jackie Paterson curse of weightmaking problems, to fight out of his skin. Helped by a picture of his dad Billy Clinton, which was shown between rounds in his ring corner, Pat battled to a points win after 12 rounds.
It was a world title victory that provoked such emotional scenes of post-fight joy that even today promoter and manager Tommy Gilmour claims that this Clinton world flyweight win is still his most cherished boxing memory. No wonder!
Afterwards, as Pat told me, later that evening he and Mum Sadie had an especially emotional reunion in his mother's living room. After all, nobody knew better than Sadie Clinton what the fulfilment of Billy's dream really meant to the whole Clinton clan - it had dominated Pat's life for so long.
Still, weight problems continued to dog Pat as they had dogged other Scottish flyweight greats. As a result, Pat looked very unimpressive in beating Englishman Danny Porter in a WBO title defence at Glasgow's SECC Arena on points over 12 rounds in September 1992 - a poor performance stressed by the fact that Clinton had already previously stopped Porter inside five rounds at Watford in a British title defence in October 1989.
Eight months later and Pat, still plagued by weight and hand injury problems, lost his title to that hammer of Scottish fighters, the diminutive South African Jake Matlala, with Pat being stopped in Glasgow inside eight rounds.
An ill-fated comeback at bantamweight eventually petered out but today Pat Clinton can look back with pride on a career that saw him win World, British, European and Scottish flyweight crowns as well as being the first Scot to win a European flyweight title in Italy…as well as fulfilling Billy Clinton's dream.
