An Edinburgh boxer who gave up the fight game to become a hip hop star in America has returned home and is back in the ring.
Stevie McGhee – better known to thousands of music fans as rapper Stevie Creed – has been undergoing gruelling training sessions at the Leith Victoria Boxing Club gym in Edinburgh and has already fought an exhibition bout in the city.
The 31-year-old decided to come full circle and get back to boxing shortly after releasing his autobiography, The Brooklyn Scotsman, that tells how as a teenager he left home and survived living in some of the toughest neighbourhoods of Brooklyn, New York.
READ MORE: Reckless Edinburgh teens filmed bus surfing down busy main road through Old Town
Stevie, from Edinburgh, went to America to train as a professional boxer, but instead ended up a hip hop artist, headlining shows, recording albums, and filming music videos on both sides of the Atlantic.
It was thanks to the help and kindness he received from the black community, in Brooklyn – who befriended and adopted him as one of their own – that Stevie triumphed over the adversity he faced on his coming-of-age odyssey to become The Brooklyn Scotsman, as his new-found friends named him.
Stevie, who plans to continue having competitive fights this year as a welterweight, says: “When I came back from America, I felt I still had some unfinished business in the boxing ring.
“When I first went to the States I was training at the famous Starret City Boxing Club, in Brooklyn. Although boxing was always my first love, the hip hop music took over and I had quite a bit of success as a rap artist.
“I’ve been training hard with Tommy Dickson, the head boxing coach at the Leith Victoria club for the past few months. It’s the oldest boxing club in Scotland and Tommy has been brilliant with me.
Tommy Dickson said: “Stevie has the enthusiasm and raw excitement of a teenager just starting out in boxing. But he’s also got a lot of valuable experience and has an old head on his shoulders from what he has learned when he was boxing in America.
“You get the best of both worlds with Stevie – youthful energy and experience.
“He’s going to do extremely well this year and he could be that good, he could end up turning pro. The door’s certainly not closed on that one if he keeps up his level of improvement.”
Stevie continues: “It was great getting back in the ring and I felt a mixture of excitement and apprehension as I stood in my corner waiting for the bell to ring to start the boxing match.
“Although there is no winner announced in the exhibition bout, I more than held my own and I was relieved I was able to perform as well as I did.
“What I’d learned from my coach, Tyrone Venning at the Starret City club, in Brooklyn and their intense training and sparring regimes certainly stood me good stead.
“It really was gym wars at the Starret City club and sparring wasn’t anything like I had been used to in Scotland when it’s more about helping each other out to refine your skills.
“As I discovered in my first sparring session in America, the boxers go at each other hell for leather and you’re expected to beat your opponent like it was a real boxing match.”
Stevie adds: “I was pleasantly surprised how relaxed and controlled I was in the exhibition match and how much I felt at home in the ring.
“It has given me confidence that I still have it in me and I’ll take my boxing as far as I can.
“Having said that, I haven’t completely swapped the stage for the boxing ring, as I’ve recently released a hip hop album, Concreed Jungle and I’m planning some shows later in the year.”
READ NEXT:
Historic Edinburgh five-bed millionaire home with massive garden hits the market
Edinburgh Weather: Residents could see snowfall during wet weekend forecast
West Lothian dad of young woman abused by partner slams 'pathetic' sentence
Gifted Edinburgh footballer in intensive care after 'sudden and severe accident'
Aldi customers urged to claim 20 per cent off code before March deadline
