Craig McEwen takes a step up on ESPN this week!

[The Hammer]

McEwen clearly outboxed Vera throughout the fight, and won 97-93 on the three scorecards. I had it 98-92.

Looks to me like Craig McEwen has some very good boxing skills and some talent, but he lacks real power - he hit Vera cleanly with his best shots, but didn't put him down.

You can get along without a lot of power if you're exceptionally slick like Felix Sturm or Winky Wright, but although McEwen has decent skills, he not as fluidly fast as those guys. Therefore I think he'll be a decent contender but will not do well against fighters at the elite level.

But that being said, he's still young, and has the best trainer in the world in Freddy Roach, so he may continue to improve.

[Kevin Malone]

I had it 98-92 for McEwen with Vera winning rounds 1 and 7. McEwen was better than I thought he would be.

[tennesseeboy]

way too slow with little power=nothing more than a contender... never do see this guy being more than that, but we shall see... definitely has a better chin that andy lee, but also have to take into account the kirkland fight vera had... couldve taken alot out of him jmo tho, we shall see

[tennesseeboy]

plus , he does move alot better than lee... lee is a statue waiting to be knocked out by any decent guy with power... lee needs to learn some movement

[ACHlLLES]

I passed out again, hmmm... I missed this fight, looked like a garbage one sided fight and looks like McEwen proved he is legit and is starting to put some decent names on his resume now. But from the posts on here is quite feather-fisted.

[Owlzfan84]

I dont think he's feather fisted. He was going up against a guy whos really only been knocked out once. Vera took everything Kirkland threw at him including the kitchen sink. The ref stopped it because Vera had been taking big shots all night, but Vera wasnt in danger of getting stopped. Vera just has a damn good chin.

[tennesseeboy]

I dont think he's feather fisted. He was going up against a guy whos really only been knocked out once. Vera took everything Kirkland threw at him including the kitchen sink. The ref stopped it because Vera had been taking big shots all night, but Vera wasnt in danger of getting stopped. Vera just has a damn good chin.

yes, vera has a very sturdy chin, you got that right...

[slicksouthpaw16]

I dont think he's feather fisted. He was going up against a guy whos really only been knocked out once. Vera took everything Kirkland threw at him including the kitchen sink. The ref stopped it because Vera had been taking big shots all night, but Vera wasnt in danger of getting stopped. Vera just has a damn good chin.

Hes not feather fisted but at the same time, Vera does not have a concrete chin. I remember Kirkland( who was noticeably smaller than Vera) bounce Vera off of the canvas a few times and Codrington hurt him with single punches. Lee also had Vera in trouble early. Granted all these fighters can ****, but if McEwen could pop he would have at least shook Vera especially considering the amount of times he landed. With that being said, i thought McEwen look good. He can improve on his foot work and defense but that's about it. Hes can box well.

[The Hammer]

Hes not feather fisted but at the same time, Vera does not have a concrete chin. I remember Kirkland( who was noticeably smaller than Vera) bounce Vera off of the canvas a few times and Codrington hurt him with single punches. Lee also had Vera in trouble early. Granted all these fighters can ****, but if McEwen could pop he would have at least shook Vera especially considering the amount of times he landed. With that being said, i thought McEwen look good. He can improve on his foot work and defense but that's about it. Hes can box well.

Correct. If McEwen had a bit more power, I would be excited about him. He's not feather-fisted like Malignaggi, but he doesn't hit as hard as say, Matt Korobov or even Andy Lee. However, he has better boxing skills than Lee. He'll be competitive in the division, but have trouble when he faces the top ten fighters.