Irish super-lightweight Stevie McKenna has revealed he “held his own” against pound-for-pound superstar Vasyl Lomachenko in sparring ahead of his debut.
The 22-year-old will dip his foot into the professional side of the sport on Saturday against Trey Branch in Los Angeles.
And McKenna is fearless after sharing a ring with the great Ukrainian, even though he was forced to box out of his less-favoured southpaw stance.
McKenna told Sky Sports: “We went to the gym, just going to spar, and they came down asking ‘did you want to spar Lomachenko?’
“I said yeah sure, but they needed a southpaw and I’m orthodox.
“I told him I’m a southpaw and I went in against him, and held my own, no problem. I learnt a lot, so it was brilliant.
“It was unbelievable to share the ring with him. I like to switch between orthodox and southpaw, so I’m able to box both styles.”
And McKenna had some advice for Anthony Crolla, who challenges Loma for his WBA and WBO lightweight world titles next Friday.
“He does a lot of thinking in there,” said McKenna. “The first round or so, he’s working you out, seeing what you are doing. If you make a mistake, he’ll counter.
“It was a very good spar, top class, he was very happy with it.”
