Lee vs. McEwan: Andy needs to prove that he has a chin

By Jason Kim: It’s been three years since middleweight contender Andy Lee (24-1, 18 KO’s) briefly stepped up a level in competition and was brutally slapped back down by Bryan Vera in a 7th round TKO defeat in 2008. Lee, 26, has won his last nine fights since then, beating nothing but 2nd tier opposition and has seen himself get pushed up the middleweight rankings with each victory. Lee, ranked #5 WBA, will be facing unbeaten Craig McEwan (19-0, 10 KO’s) in a 10 round bout on the undercard of the Sergio Martinez vs. Sergiy Dzinziruk on March 12th at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, in Mashantucket, Connecticut.

Lee is finally facing a top tier fighter after all this time, albeit one without much power in McEwan. This may help Lee stay upright in this fight and keep him from getting knocked out once again. Lee looks great in the early parts of his fights when he’s throwing his left hands and right hooks with power and speed. But he fades badly when the fights go beyond a certain length of time. Lee was taken eight rounds by Michael Walker last year in September and I didn’t like what I saw of Lee. He took a lot of flush shots in that fight until finally stopping Walker in the 8th round.

It was a good thing that Lee stopped Walker when he did, because Lee was tiring in that fight and looked on the verge of gassing out like he did in the Vera fight. The good thing that Lee has going for him in the McEwan fight is that McEwan doesn’t have a lot of power, is trained by Freddie Roach, is a mostly a hit and run type fighter. This should help Lee avoid getting knocked out again and may give him a good chance of escaping with a decision win.

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