Belfast Prospect Is Looking Forward to His ‘Frampton Reborn’ Undercard Date
Hard-hitting welterweight prospect Lewis Crocker claims he has embraced his heavy-handed reputation as he aims for a fourth knockout on the bounce on Saturday night in Belfast.
The 20-year-old turned pro last March, having gained a fearsome punching reputation as an amateur and he has duly delivered on that promise by recording three early wins over the past eight months.
The Belfast native will fight in his hometown on the undercard of this weekend’s ‘Frampton Reborn’ fight bill when two-weight world champion Carl Frampton takes on Mexican Horacio Garcia live on BT Sport and BoxNation.
While fights fans and the media have gradually built up Crocker’s wrecking-ball reputation, the welterweight insists he does not feel any pressure to blast his opponents away despite all the talk surrounding his power.
“There was more pressure going into my first fight than what I feel now. I’m just getting confident. I’m dropping people and getting better each fight as well, so that’s just building my confidence. I’d love to get another knockout on Saturday. I can’t wait. I’m looking forward to fighting in the SSE Arena,” said Crocker, who features in a four-rounder against Hungarian novice Gyula Rozsas on Saturday night.
Hailed as one of the standout prospects in Irish boxing, the MTK Global-managed talent is happy to be marked out as one to watch.
“It’s great,” he said. “The support from people is inspiring me to be even better, so hopefully I’ll keep going the way I’m going and I’ll build up as much experience as I can over the next couple of years.”
Crocker is trained by up-and-coming coach Ray Ginely, himself a former 6-0 pro prospect who is just three-and-half years older than his protégé.
“It’s brilliant working with him,” said the 20-year-old. “Me and Ray get on great, so we do. We’ve a great relationship and it’s worked so far, so I think we’re going to go on to even bigger things in the future,” continued Crocker, who believes a recent trend of fighters teaming up with their contemporaries in the gym will continue.
“I think it’s far better – there’s a lot of science behind sports in general now and some of the older coaches maybe don’t agree with that, but Ray understands that,” said the Belfast welter. “He understands the need for rest days and stuff like that.
“Ray first took me for strength-and-conditioning training, not for boxing, but it was great working with him and we’re going well.”
