By Lee Collier
Welsh and British amateur featherweight champion Craig Evans, 20, has become the latest young starlet to turn professional under the guidance of Britain’s biggest promoter Frank Warren. Evans, who had a successful amateur career, won a bronze medal in the 2008 European championship and was knocked out of the 2009 World Amateur Championships by the 2008 Olympic champion Vasyl Lomachenko of the Ukraine.
Evans is due to make his pro debut on the undercard of the Kevin Mitchell and Michael Katsidis interim WBO lightweight world title fight at Upton Park, London on the 15th May and the youngster is relishing the prospect of fighting on such a big occasion.
“It’s really good to sign with Frank [Warren] and I just can’t wait to have my first fight on the 15th May,” revealed Evans. “I am on the undercard of the Mitchell-Katsidis world title fight and I can’t wait to show Frank Warren what I’m made of and hopefully I’ll climb the ladder as fast as Nathan Cleverly did.”
The youngster was in demand but decided to sign with the man responsible for guiding many top British fighters to the top of the boxing ladder. “I had offers of other promoters such as Hatton Promotions amongst others but I went with Frank as all you need to do is look at some of the fighters he has brought through. Fighters like Naseem [Hamed] and Ricky [Hatton] and he made them all champions,” opined Evans.
Evans will train under Lee Beard, who recently became the trainer of former world champion Joan Guzman. Evans had spent time with the Manchester-based trainer and was adamant that Beard was the man he wanted to train him.
“I have worked with Lee before and he is an excellent defensive coach and I know he’ll bring my skills on a lot,” stated Evans. “I bring a lot to the plate and am an exciting fighter. Hopefully with Lee training me I’ll one day become a world champion.”
Beard is delighted to be involved training a young fighter he feels is destined for the top and believes Evans will leave a lasting memory on boxing fans minds when he makes his debut. “Craig is a very good boxer and his amateur record and pedigree prove that. There are things we have already worked on as he’s done some work with me but we now have nine weeks to prepare for his debut,” stated Beard.
“I know what I want to work on and it’ll be a slow process but we have plenty of time. His conditioning will be spot on as he’s already in good shape and we have plenty of time to work on technique.”
Beard finished by saying, “Craig will make a statement on his debut without a doubt; he is a nice boxer but has an evil streak and looks for the hurtful shots and looks for the knockouts. I think he will be attractive to watch in the pro game.”
