Craig McEwan - sparring

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ALI
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Craig McEwan - sparring

Post by ALI »

These last few years at the wild card gym McEwan has sparred with some really big names: Edison Miranda, Antonio Margarito, Bernard Hopkins, Vernon Forrest, Shaun Porter, Winky Wright and i'm sure many many more.

On his sports blog (on ITV sports i think), he wrote that he sparred Margarito for two weeks, that he got hammered during the first few sessions but had his number by the end of their time together. Anyone got any more info on that?

Very interesting to note that he sparred Margarito in the mornings, then Hopkins in the afternoons for around a two week period :o He writes that during one sparring session Hopkins nutted him, intentionally, busted his nose with it, then unleashed a big combo on him to follow it up. He's a classles act that Hopkins, what a prick!

Does anyone have any information on his sparring sessions with any of the above mentioned, how has he been coping? I know he's got a reputation as being a real tough nut in sparring, Miranda said he's the toughest guy he ever sparred, they all praise him, but is that more for his resiliance to take the punishment they are dishing out or for his actuall boxing skills? Is he outboxing any of these guys, perhaps holding his own with them, or is he just hanging tough with them?
Grendal
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Re: Craig McEwan - sparring

Post by Grendal »

Hi Ali, Craig is valued as a sparring partner because he is a high quality southpaw. He also has the ability to tweak his style to imitate individual southpaws like Calzaghe, Williams etc and this is why Hopkins, for example,has used him a couple of times and the likes of Margarito, Wright, Miranda etc came to him first when they needed specialist sparring before title fights. However pre fight sparring is also about conditioning and fighters need to work HARD in sparring too. With Craig they have both elements.
I have watched him spar with Pete Manfredo,Vanes Martirosyan,Kingsley Ikeke and a host of others but none of the world rated guys. However he certainly dominated all the ones I have seen;in fact I have seen both Pete and Vanes thoroughly demoralised after being in for a few rounds with Craig.
You must remember, though, that sparring is not the real thing and there are many fighters who never meet the promise they show in the gym.
Craig has a lot of critics on this site. I am amazed that there are those who still claim the the likes of Darren Barker would beat him easily and, of course, The Great Jim Watt has been very critical of him in the past. Its going to be up to Craig to prove them wrong in the ring and that opportunity will happen soon, I`m sure.
By the way, Ali, I`m sure I have a DVD of Craig sparring with Margarito somewhere at home and I`ll try to dig it out. I`m sure I read you were a Scot on another thread so if you live near Edinburgh, I`ll get it to you if I find it.
ALI
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Re: Craig McEwan - sparring

Post by ALI »

Hi Grendal, thanks for the reply. I am a fellow Scot (Fife) and always get behind our prospects, i'm really hoping Craig can make it to the very top. Its great to hear that he dominated the likes of Manfredo, Martirosyan, Ikeke etc in sparring, thats exactly what he needs to be doing, it gives me hope reading that.

I am not aware of his critics on here, its a shame if thats the case because i see no reason for it. He's done everything right so far as a pro and seems like a genuinely nice guy.

Jim Watt comes as a surprise, i was not aware of that either. What exactly is he being critical about?

I actually live abroad, i married a Polish girl and have been living in Poland now for a few years therefor i dont get any of Sky's coverage. Have they been showing many of Craigs fights?

Thanks for the offer of the Margarito dvd, but i have no clue as to when i'll be in Edinburgh next, or Scotland for that matter. If its not to much hassle for you, stick it up on YouTube, i'm sure there's many more than just me that would like to see it.

What about his sparring with Miranda, have you seen any film clips of that, or heard any reports as to how Craig coped? I did read somewhere that Miranda claimed Craig was the toughest sparring partner he's ever had!
hurlock
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Re: Craig McEwan - sparring

Post by hurlock »

what is it with scots :!: you get half a decent fighter & get all william wallace on us :!:

tbh im pretty impressed with names he's sparring, more so the fringe fighters like ikeke as names may just be toying with him. seems like he's surviving out there & coming on leaps & bounds, good luck to the lad.
alexpaterson
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Re: Craig McEwan - sparring

Post by alexpaterson »

From what i've seen he has looked very good, and the quality of sparring can only do him good. And its always good to hear that he's getting the better of sparring with quality opposition.
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Re: Craig McEwan - sparring

Post by Smigga »

Craig's a great lad. Can honestly say I've only seen him once as a pro and he boxed really well.
Good luck to him, he's a Brit doing well over the pond :TU:
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Re: Craig McEwan - sparring

Post by craigstephen »

hurlock wrote:what is it with scots :!: you get half a decent fighter & get all william wallace on us :!:

FREEDOM!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
iamasadlittleboy
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Re: Craig McEwan - sparring

Post by iamasadlittleboy »

I'm going with him getting lucky against Perez on Friday...
Barry big balz
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Re: Craig McEwan - sparring

Post by Barry big balz »

iamasadlittleboy wrote:I'm going with him getting lucky against Perez on Friday...
What do mean about getting lucky? I dont know anything about his opponent so cant comment but id expect a win here for craig against the welter.
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Re: Craig McEwan - sparring

Post by iamasadlittleboy »

Barry big balz wrote:
iamasadlittleboy wrote:I'm going with him getting lucky against Perez on Friday...
What do mean about getting lucky? I dont know anything about his opponent so cant comment but id expect a win here for craig against the welter.
A cough cough judges helping hand type of lucky. Just one of those sneaky feelings.
Barry big balz
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Re: Craig McEwan - sparring

Post by Barry big balz »

iamasadlittleboy wrote:
Barry big balz wrote:
iamasadlittleboy wrote:I'm going with him getting lucky against Perez on Friday...
What do mean about getting lucky? I dont know anything about his opponent so cant comment but id expect a win here for craig against the welter.
A cough cough judges helping hand type of lucky. Just one of those sneaky feelings.
Against an undefeated freddie roach fighter? :shame:
iamasadlittleboy
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Re: Craig McEwan - sparring

Post by iamasadlittleboy »

Barry big balz wrote:
iamasadlittleboy wrote:
Barry big balz wrote: What do mean about getting lucky? I dont know anything about his opponent so cant comment but id expect a win here for craig against the welter.
A cough cough judges helping hand type of lucky. Just one of those sneaky feelings.
Against an undefeated freddie roach fighter? :shame:

The same unbeaten fighter that had a helping hand against Donnell Boone :wink:
Barry big balz
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Re: Craig McEwan - sparring

Post by Barry big balz »

iamasadlittleboy wrote:
Barry big balz wrote:
iamasadlittleboy wrote: A cough cough judges helping hand type of lucky. Just one of those sneaky feelings.
Against an undefeated freddie roach fighter? :shame:

The same unbeaten fighter that had a helping hand against Donnell Boone :wink:
Thats the thing with craig his punches lack any kind of snap so he has to work very hard on punch numbers and movement to win fights. Fighters with good punch technique and nice snap might get noticed by the judges faster than as jim watt would say "arm punches" that craig would throw... Its hard for him when you dont have that natural ability.
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Re: Craig McEwan - sparring

Post by Grendal »

iamasadlittleboy wrote:
Barry big balz wrote:
iamasadlittleboy wrote: A cough cough judges helping hand type of lucky. Just one of those sneaky feelings.
Against an undefeated freddie roach fighter? :shame:

The same unbeaten fighter that had a helping hand against Donnell Boone :wink:
Craig has never fought Donnell Boone whom I have heard is brilliant. Jim Watt says Donnell would blow him away even though he`s a welter and only throws arm punches.
iamasadlittleboy
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Re: Craig McEwan - sparring

Post by iamasadlittleboy »

Sorry Darnell Boone, who he fought a split decision with 13 months ago
Grendal
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Re: Craig McEwan - sparring

Post by Grendal »

Ah, Darnell Boone. I saw that fight and scored it 7-1 to Craig. I don`t know anyone who saw it that gave the fight to Boone except, of course, his blind godfather who was judging that night. Here is what Harold Lederman had to say about it.

http://www.myboxingfans.com/2009/06/onl ... tiz-fight/


...During the Craig McEwan-Darnell Boone undercard, I caught up with HBO’s unofficial ringside scorer Harold Lederman. The jovial unofficial judge had a break before his HBO Boxing After Dark broadcast. While we watched the remaining round of the bout, Harold told me, “I have McEwan winning all seven rounds.”
Dioufy
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Re: Craig McEwan - sparring

Post by Dioufy »

I got ripped to pieces at the time, and I will now. I gave it to Boone... just.
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