by Geoffrey Ciani (Interviewed by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) – This week’s 112th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with middleweight contender Andy Lee (24-1, 18 KOs), who is scheduled to face Craig McEwan (19-0, 10 KOs) on March 12 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Andy spoke about his upcoming fight and also provided views and opinions on various aspects of the current boxing landscape. Here is what he had to say:
On what he expects from his opponent Craig McEwan on March 12:
“I expect a hard fight. He’s a good boxer. He’s slick and he’s tricky and you know he wants it as much as I do. So it’s going to be a good fight. We know each other. We box similar in certain ways. It’s an interesting contest and it will be a good fight.”
On training and preparations for the McEwan fight:
“Training is going really well. We’re down here in Hollywood, Florida. We’re training at The Heavyweight Factory and Miguel Cotto is in camp at the moment and I’m also in camp and it’s going really well. I’m doing lots of rounds. I boxed seven rounds today and worked out hard outside the ring. I’m ahead of schedule actually. We still got four weeks to go. So we’re ahead and I feel very sharp and I’m doing the rounds easily. So I’m going to keep working and putting the time in and we still got four weeks and I’ll be ready on fight night.”
On whether he was disappointed that an all-Irish showdown between him and John Duddy was called off after Duddy unexpectedly announced his retirement:
“Yeah, it was a shame for boxing fans, I guess for Irish boxing fans because they’ve been waiting for the fight for awhile, but as we know now he chose to retire and I respect that. It’s a tough game and if you don’t feel like you can do it anymore then you shouldn’t be in the ring, so good luck to John. It was never a personal thing with me and him. It just would have been a good fight for us both and I wish him well now in retirement.”
On whether he believes John Duddy will ever return to the ring:
“I don’t know. He sounds pretty sure of himself that he’s going to stay retired. I don’t know. He might get the urge to come back, but will anyone take him seriously? I don’t know, he kind of shut the door. It might have been a wise move to kind of leave the door open and saying that he was going to step back from boxing or whatever. Who knows? He’s still young enough to fight but time is ticking and he’s had some tough fights already so I don’t know what he’ll do.”
On what it means to fight in front of an Irish crowd just before Saint Partick’s Day:
“It’s good having a fight around Saint Patrick’s Day. The Irish are great fans of boxing and they follow their fighters. They’re great supporters. So to be fighting in an area of Connecticut which is between Boston and New York there is already great excitement. I’ve been getting a lot of text messages and friends have mine have bought tickets and they’re with their friends and I expect a good crowd up there. I’m sure there will be a decent number of Scottish people there too supporting Craig McEwan too, so it should make for a good atmosphere.”
His views on facing a fellow southpaw in McEwan and whether he does anything drastically different in his approach during training and preparations to fight a southpaw:
“Not really, just that I’ve been sparring a lot of southpaws just to re-familiarize. As an amateur, almost every second guy I boxed was a southpaw. There were a lot of southpaws, but as a pro I only boxed one southpaw before and that was Carl Daniels. You know when you’re fighting a right-handed fighter you throw certain punches that work well and when you fight a southpaw you make changes and throw certain punches and combinations that work well, as well. I’ve been watching McEwan and studying him every day and coming up with and devising a plan and those are the things I’m working on in the gym. The weaknesses we can see that we can expose, those are the things we’re working on. I can’t reveal them at the moment, but hopefully you will see them on March 12.”
His views on the fight between Sergio Martinez and Serhiy Dzinziruk:
“It’s an interesting match-up just as ours is. That will be more of a technical battle. If you try to play it out in your mind, Dzinziruk is not as mobile as Martinez and kind of keeps a tighter defense so it will be interesting to see. That’s an interesting match-up. It could be a very exciting fight or it could be a boring fight. I think Martinez is the favorite. He had a great year last year and he definitely deserved the ‘Fighter of the Year’, but can he keep it up? I’m sure he’ll be looking to impress and maintain his claim to being one of the pound-for-pound best so it’s an interesting fight. The whole card is good.”
His views on how Miguel Cotto is looking in training camp and how he feels Cotto will fare in his March 12 bout against Ricardo Mayorga:
“Miguel is looking excellent. He works very hard in the gym. I try to watch him spar as much as I can. In between my workouts I try to look over and see how he’s doing because he’s a great champion and a very nice guy outside the ring, as well. He’s very humble and you can see he’s determined. He works hard. I think he’s going to win. I think he’ll stop Mayorga inside six rounds, in six or seven rounds. Mayorga’s a tough man, a strong man, and a bigger man physically, but Miguel is great. People don’t give him credit for the boxing skills he has. I think against Yuri Foreman you saw a little bit of that, but I’ve seen it every day in the gym. He’s an excellent boxer as well as a good fighter so I think Miguel is going to have a good victory.”
His views on the upcoming rematch between Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal:
“I actually didn’t see the fight in its entirety because I was in Ireland over the Christmas period and I didn’t get to see that fight. I think that was on December 18 that fight was on, wasn’t it? But I know there was a lot of controversy over the decision and everyone was claiming Hopkins won, but you know when you’re fighting away from home you have to do that little bit extra to really take the champion’s title. The rematch makes for a good fight. Before the first fight I thought Pascal would win being younger and more athletic, but Hopkins is a shrewd fighter and you can never bet against him so it’s a hard one to call. The first one was arguable and who knows who’s going to win the second one, but I think it will be a good fight and I can’t really pick a winner. Hopkins is a legend and one of the all time greats and a future Hall of Famer so you can never bet against him.”
His views on the May 7 mega fight between Manny Pacquiao and Sugar Shane Mosley:
“With Pacquiao, he’s a phenomenal fighter. He’s the best fighter, between him and Floyd, of our generation that we’ve seen. But he’s always going up against these big guys and when I was just looking at some of the photos on the internet, Mosley is so much bigger than him that it’s hard to count him out, but it’s hard to bet against Pacquiao. Pacquiao is so quick and time is ticking on Mosley at the moment. So I think it will be a good fight. With these older experienced fighters you can never count them out, like Hopkins. With that much experience and that much and much quality you could never count them out. I think it will be a good fight but I think Manny Pacquiao will win.”
On whether he believes this could be the fight which propels him to a title shot:
“I hope so. You know I hope to impress, not just win the fight but look good in doing it and if I do that it will solidify my claim as a title contender and if I could do it in style then I’ll turn some heads and maybe people will start to see me as a title challenger. I’ve already had calls to challenge some of the other title holders in the past, but Sergio Martinez is the best middleweight and I would like to fight him. After this fight if I win, maybe one more after that but I think I’m line for a title fight sometime this year. As long as I keep winning and boxing well then I think this will be the year that it comes. I’m not looking past Craig McEwan. I’m just going to focus on him, do my work in the gym, and then do the job on the night of the fight. If the title fight is there I’ll obviously take it, but if not I’ll keep working and just keep winning. That’s all I can do.”
On whether he believes he is ready to face someone of Martinez’s caliber:
“I believe I’m ready. I think I’m ready. On March 12 I’d like to show people I’m ready and do the business and really have a good performance. I’m in against an undefeated fighter and a tricky boxer so there is a lot to be said about that. It could be an awkward fight to look good in but I’m going to do everything I could to impress and hopefully get a knockout victory. That’s all I can do is keep winning, but I believe I’m ready and my time will come this year I believe.”
His views on the upcoming fight between Winky Wright and Matthew Macklin:
“I think that’s a good fight for Matthew. Winky Wright was one of my favorite boxers when I was growing up because he actually fought over in England a lot earlier in his career when he was traveling around and I got to see him in all those fights on TV so and when I was growing up Winky Wright was one of my favorite fighters because he was a southpaw as well. He hasn’t fought in a few years now, but he’s still got to have something left. Matthew was his activity I think will be a slight favorite, but if Winky has got anything left like he used to have then it’s going to be a tough fight. It’s an interesting fight. I will be watching and I’ll be supporting Macklin. He’s from Ireland and so it will be my friend against my favorite fighter, so it will be interesting to watch.”
His views on Bryan Vera’s recent upset victory against Sergio Mora:
“To me it wasn’t really a big surprise. When I was thinking about this fight and the styles I thought Vera had a very good chance of winning it, because he’s very strong physically and he’s determined and he’s got a big heart. He fought well and I congratulate him. I was happy that he won because it looks better for me and it sets up a nice clash if I come through and a title fight is not an option for me, then I will be happy to fight Bryan Vera. I always say nasty comments about Bryan Vera that he ran from me. I don’t think he ever ran from me, from a rematch or anything. I just think that he had a lot of options after he beat me and he wanted to capitalize and make the most of that victory. But now maybe our paths will cross again somewhere in the future. I think he’s up for it and I’m up for it so it will be a good fight when it does happen again.”
His views on the fight between Felix Sturm and Ronald Hearns:
“I think it’s a tough task for Ronald. He’s never fought outside the country before and I think he was preparing for the fight in Las Vegas, and that’s another three or four hours on top of the time difference already. So hopefully he’s gone over there early enough just for the time difference. Going to Germany is tough just because of the travel and the change of climate, and then as well with the judges. To beat a German fighter in Germany you have to do excellent. Ronald Hearns is a good puncher. He’s got a puncher’s chance. I’m glad he’s fighting at middleweight because I feel like he’s stronger at middleweight than he would be at 154 because he’s tall. Sturm’s a good fighter and a good champion. I think he’s got to be the favorite to win it. I think Sturm will win a points decision, but I think Ronald will step his game up and might surprise a few people.”
On whether he would be interested in facing the winner of Sturm-Hearns if he is unable to secure a fight with Sergio Martinez:
“I wouldn’t mind fighting Felix Sturm if the conditions were right, but my eyes are set on the number one middleweight and that’s Sergio Martinez. Like I said I just have to keep winning. I’m not looking past anybody. I’m doing my business in the gym and I’ll do my business in the ring, but I would like to fight him because he’s number one and if I beat him I’ll get the most credit. So that’s it. There are other champions out there, Felix Sturm, Dmitry Pirog is an excellent fighter as well, and Gennady Golovkin. There are some good guys. They are all good fights for me. The middleweight division was quiet for awhile but it will pick up again. There are good young fighters coming up through the ranks as well to make good fights for the future, like David Lemieux, and Fernando Guerrero, and if Bryan Vera keeps winning then that’s a good fight for me again in the future. We’ll see, but right now all I got to do is win March 12 and that’s my focus.”
On what he believes is the most important thing he needs to do to be successful against McEwan:
“I don’t want to reveal too much, but he’s a counterpuncher more so and he moves and he boxes. He might try to do something differently, but I’ve seen him box since he was an amateur since around 2002 and he’s always kind of boxed the same way. He moves and boxes, so I know what my game plan is to do. I’m not going to say anything right now, but I just have to impose my game plan is to do. I’m not going to say anything right now, but I just have to impose my game plan and not fall into any of his traps because he is tricky. He will move you around and he lets guys fall short and then he counterpunches and he punches when he’s moving as well, and he does good feints often. I think whoever establishes their jab and has a demanding jab will win the fight. That’s all I’m going to say about this fight and game plans.”
His official prediction for his upcoming fight against Craig McEwan:
“I’m going to win the fight either by points victory or late stoppage.”
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For those interested in listening to the Andy Lee interview in its entirety, it begins approximately twenty-one minutes (21:25) into the program.
RIGHT CLICK & ‘SAVE AS’ TO DOWNLOAD EPISODE #112
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