Marathon man Magee on fire
Posted: 16 Mar 2005, 12:19
Marathon man Magee on fire
By David Kelly, belfasttelegraph.co.uk
16 March 2005
They call it a flop operation and it is the reason Eamonn Magee can defend his WBU welterweight title on Friday night.
Magee's right leg was beaten to a pulp 13 months ago and today he has two ugly scars as well as his calf muscle on top of his shin. He would pass for an extra in Casualty but instead the Belfast man is ready to go 12 rounds with Denmark's Allan Vester at the King's Hall.
Speaking to Magee about his injuries is not for the squeamish, so if you are of weak disposition skip the next couple of paragraphs.
"That was lying on the road," says Magee as he points to the calf muscle on top of his shin, which was down to the bone by the time the beating had stopped.
"Because there was no muscle left on my shin they had to take the muscle from the calf and put it to the front.
"That wasn't the worst problem - they had to rush me to surgery a couple of times and take out the clots that were gathering. They were coming out like pieces of string and seemed to go on forever."
Magee's defiance is little short of remarkable and not only is he aiming to continue his boxing career for some time to come but his sights are already on another date, May 2nd.
"I'm going to do the marathon," he says as if it were just a jog around the block. Frankly, I thought my hearing was defective as this is a man who has not always been over-enthusiastic about roadwork.
"I'm doing the marathon with my three brothers, Noel, Patrick and Terry and we're raising money for the Ardoyne club who need all new gear.
"Since I came back from this I'm more determined than ever and I actually love the running now. I've been running since September and I've sparred close to 200 rounds. That exceeds anything I have ever done before and I have to thank John Breen and Mickey Hughes for getting me to this point. Mickey has been getting me out of bed every morning to go running."
His resolve in the early days of his return to training was such that after collapsing 50 yards from the end of his run he refused to be picked up by Hughes and instead virtually crawled his way to the finish.
At 33 some would be thinking about winding their career. After all Joe Calzaghe has given himself two more years. Magee has no such deadlines.
Indeed, he is a man for whom guidelines, rules and barriers rarely seem to register.
"I don't go looking for trouble - it just seems to find me!" he adds.
"I wasn't going to let anyone call time on my career and I couldn't just walk away from the sport that I love. The first time I walked into a gym I was five and I had my first fight at seven and I've been fighting ever since.
"Now I'm back and the leg is stronger than ever. People wonder if I'll only know how good it is when I get into the ring but I know that I'm ready.
"And Allan Vester is going to see that on Friday night. It's going to be a special moment for me and for everyone around me. My mum will be there but as usual I think she will be in the toilet when the fight's on."
While Magee is insistent that he will seek to make another defence of this belt before going back down to light-welterweight, he does see his long term future remaining in boxing.
"I would be ready to put on shows here. I could make a few quid and the guys here would get regular work.
"I think some of them need to realise that there's a difference between fighting on TV shows and small shows. We can put on shows here every two months, we have the fighters."
It seems he feels anything is possible and who would argue.
By David Kelly, belfasttelegraph.co.uk
16 March 2005
They call it a flop operation and it is the reason Eamonn Magee can defend his WBU welterweight title on Friday night.
Magee's right leg was beaten to a pulp 13 months ago and today he has two ugly scars as well as his calf muscle on top of his shin. He would pass for an extra in Casualty but instead the Belfast man is ready to go 12 rounds with Denmark's Allan Vester at the King's Hall.
Speaking to Magee about his injuries is not for the squeamish, so if you are of weak disposition skip the next couple of paragraphs.
"That was lying on the road," says Magee as he points to the calf muscle on top of his shin, which was down to the bone by the time the beating had stopped.
"Because there was no muscle left on my shin they had to take the muscle from the calf and put it to the front.
"That wasn't the worst problem - they had to rush me to surgery a couple of times and take out the clots that were gathering. They were coming out like pieces of string and seemed to go on forever."
Magee's defiance is little short of remarkable and not only is he aiming to continue his boxing career for some time to come but his sights are already on another date, May 2nd.
"I'm going to do the marathon," he says as if it were just a jog around the block. Frankly, I thought my hearing was defective as this is a man who has not always been over-enthusiastic about roadwork.
"I'm doing the marathon with my three brothers, Noel, Patrick and Terry and we're raising money for the Ardoyne club who need all new gear.
"Since I came back from this I'm more determined than ever and I actually love the running now. I've been running since September and I've sparred close to 200 rounds. That exceeds anything I have ever done before and I have to thank John Breen and Mickey Hughes for getting me to this point. Mickey has been getting me out of bed every morning to go running."
His resolve in the early days of his return to training was such that after collapsing 50 yards from the end of his run he refused to be picked up by Hughes and instead virtually crawled his way to the finish.
At 33 some would be thinking about winding their career. After all Joe Calzaghe has given himself two more years. Magee has no such deadlines.
Indeed, he is a man for whom guidelines, rules and barriers rarely seem to register.
"I don't go looking for trouble - it just seems to find me!" he adds.
"I wasn't going to let anyone call time on my career and I couldn't just walk away from the sport that I love. The first time I walked into a gym I was five and I had my first fight at seven and I've been fighting ever since.
"Now I'm back and the leg is stronger than ever. People wonder if I'll only know how good it is when I get into the ring but I know that I'm ready.
"And Allan Vester is going to see that on Friday night. It's going to be a special moment for me and for everyone around me. My mum will be there but as usual I think she will be in the toilet when the fight's on."
While Magee is insistent that he will seek to make another defence of this belt before going back down to light-welterweight, he does see his long term future remaining in boxing.
"I would be ready to put on shows here. I could make a few quid and the guys here would get regular work.
"I think some of them need to realise that there's a difference between fighting on TV shows and small shows. We can put on shows here every two months, we have the fighters."
It seems he feels anything is possible and who would argue.
