16/09/2026
Leading up to pro debut Sept 16th 2006
MGM Vegas
Hollywood may be the glamour capital of the world. But people also call it the city of broken dreams. Everyone has heard and read about the movie stars, the Oscars and the film premieres but there is another Hollywood, the real Hollywood. For every successful star there are a hundred failed and disappointed wannabes.
We Scots are a cynical lot and don’t believe in fairytales but the events of the next four weeks of my time in Hollywood came close to changing my mind. For my first month there I felt like we were living the American Dream.
Picture the scene yourselves; here I am in the Wildcard gym, a skinny peely-wally Scot, sparring with a world title contender with Freddie Roach in my corner. The whole gym stops, expecting to see this new boy McEwan gettin’ a doin’. But at the end of the six rounds I was still battling away.
Freddie must’ve liked what he saw because at the end of the six rounds he asked me, “Who’s your manager?” And when I said I didn’t have one, he simply replied “Well, I’ll manage you.” You can probably guess I didn’t have to stop and think for too long; maybe a quarter of a second! Wow. From that moment I was on the rollercoaster. Within days I was introduced to Billy Keane, Freddie’s friend and business partner, and now my co-manager. I’d been on American soil for less than a week and all of a sudden I had a management team. And Freddy of course took charge of my coaching.
These were the days before Freddie was in such high demand. Nowadays people wanting to be managed or coached by Freddie Roach have to join the end of a very long queue. I think I was probably the last boxer to be approached by Freddie rather than the other way round.
At first I thought Freddie would try to completely change my unconventional style. This is what I had been led to believe by many “experts” back home. But Freddie’s attitude was simple, “we’ll build on what you’ve got. If I didn’t like your style I wouldn’t have taken you on.”
The rollercoaster roared on. Within days I was sitting in the office of Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions flanked by Freddie and Billy, facing the Golden Boy himself, Oscar De La Hoya. In front of me was the file Sally and I had carefully put together containing newspaper clippings and DVD and video footage of my amateur career. I had prepared a short speech to sell myself to Golden Boy but before I had time to open my mouth Freddie got to his feet and said simply, “This kid has really got something. With my guidance and your backing he’ll be a world champion.”
I have to admit when Freddie mentioned “world champion” I was on the verge of saying, “Stop the bus Freddie, I’ve no’even got over my jetlag yet.” But Oscar’s response was as equally to the point, “If you’re good enough for Freddie Roach, you’re good enough for us.” Moments later I was looking over a contract with Freddie and Billy and signing on the dotted line. When I got back the first thing Sally asked was what they thought of the file she has spent all night the night before putting together. I didn’t have the heart to tell her they hadn’t even glanced at it!
The next day I was told that my first fight was to be on the Marco Antonio Barrera/Rocky Juarez undercard which was being billed as the fight of the year. It was to be held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Even established top boxers from Great Britain dream about fighting in Las Vegas but here’s Craig McEwan from Wester Hailes doing it in his debut fight! Alton Towers doesn’t do rides like this.
So it was into the gym for me, six days a week. Freddie kept it basic, getting me used to the three minute rounds. It’s the sparring that’s hard at the Wild Card because everybody wants to prove themselves especially when it’s up against Freddie’s new signing. So I had hard rounds against tough veteran Mexicans, young technical Russians, fast fancy Americans and many, many others, all fighting flat out. As it turned out these sessions were much harder than my first fight was to be but I wasn’t to know that at the time. So I battled away gaining ring experience and taking on board Freddie’s fine adjustments and starting to develop my unorthodox, relaxed style to suit the pro game.
Meanwhile, Billy Keane helped Sally and me find an apartment behind Hollywood Boulevard. Even that had a celebrity story but not on the glitzy side. Notorious mass murderer Charles Manson had once lived in the apartment directly above us, Marilyn Monroe had live across the road when she was still Norma Jean and Janis Joplin had died in the hotel next door. Our life at this time felt a bit like being on a self catering holiday with the sun and the pool in the apartment block. What was most surreal was the fact that I had to jog along Hollywood Blvd to get to the gym every day. How many Scots say hi to Superman, Spiderman and Sponge Bob Square Pants on their way to work in the morning?
Four weeks after arriving in Los Angeles Sally and I were flown to Las Vegas by Golden Boy Promotions and put up in the MGM Grand. The next day at the pre-fight press conference I was introduced in glowing terms by Oscar, sitting next to Barrera himself. I met Bernard Hopkins and Shane Mosley at the weigh in and signed autographs. Before I knew it I was stripped for action and walking into the ring for my first fight, TV cameras in my face and the crowd roaring. And suddenly the nerves kicked in. I’d fought as an amateur all over the world against top international fighters but had never felt fear like this. Doubts started running around my head. Was I really good enough to live up to all the expectations? Can I really pull this off? For the first time I was stepping into the ring wearing no headgear, no vest and only 10oz gloves. I felt naked and I was shaking like a jelly and for the first time in my life I understood the old saying that the boxing ring is the loneliest place in the world. I don’t remember anything about the fight. Not a thing! But the record says I stopped George Montalvo with a barrage of punches in 2 minutes and 16 seconds of the first round.
I don’t think I woke up properly after the fight. I remember Oscar De La Hoya telling me that he loved my style and that I was going to be a champion. As Sally, Freddie and I were walking out the MGM Grand people were asking for my autograph and to have photographs taken with me. Outside, a limo pulled up to take Sally and me to the Hilton Hotel for dinner. As the chauffeur opened the door I could hear people asking “who is it, who is it?” as cameras flashed. Sally and I sat in the back of the limo and looked at each other, grinning like a pair of dafties. We could get used to this...
