By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing
IBF #10, WBO #11 heavyweight Demsey McKean (19-0, 12 KOs) has impressed IBF, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. McKean was a key sparring partner for Joshua in preparation for his showdown with Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday in London.
Joshua told the press that McKean is “a phenomenal heavyweight” and has been “a blessing.”
“He (McKean) is a great sparring partner,” Joshua said. “He is six-foot-something, big guy, southpaw – we don’t really get too many of those. He has great potential.”
McKean and Usyk are both southpaws. “No one is going to be exactly the same as the guy I am fighting but they will throw certain punches,” said Joshua. Anyone who throws punches at me is doing me a favor. Demsey is just throwing punches at me.
“Some of them are hitting me, some of them aren’t hitting me. When they do hit me, I think to myself: ‘How do I stop them from hitting me?’ He’s just doing me a big favor of making me think how not to get hit against a southpaw.
“My brain is wiring to think: ‘Oh s***, there’s that backhand coming, boom’. Two weeks later ‘Oh s***, there’s that backhand coming, slip, bang’. It’s a blessing to have him in training.”
Demsey McKean is managed and promoted by Angelo DiCarlo in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Gotta get a kick out of Joshua trying to “flex” while he is in the photo prop. Similar to a high school pic seen in your old yearbook where some of the guys are yearning to say, “Look at me, I am lifting weights”. LOL
Joshua doesn’t impress me at all. He fights like an amateur, lifts weights as a shield to protect his weak chin. He’s a pretender, pure and simple. I can’t remember the last time he fought. That’s how unimpressive he is. All I remember is that a bit fat roll poly with a pot belly, knocked him senseless. The heavyweight division is still quite pathetic, and in desperate need of some real talent.