Vasyl Lomachenko vs Anthony Crolla: Stevie McKenna recalls ‘holding his own’ in sparring against mercurial Ukrainian

The Irish youngster is turning pro this weekend and gained confidence by sparring the pound-for-pound star

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.”

McKenna sparred with Lomachenko last year (@stevie_mckenna ) (@stevie_mckenna)

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.”