Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Boxing star Mckeown eyes a title shot
Mckeownontrainingwithburnsandtitleshot
Mentor Mckeown trains with champion boxer Ricky Burns, left
“As soon as I was allowed to go to boxing I just didn’t look back, I loved it,” says Coatbridge fighter Mark Mckeown.
His mum didn’t want him to take after his dad and enter the ring, so a young Mckeown tried running and judo, before he was allowed to box, and it’s a good thing too, because he might be the next big thing in the sport.
“See as soon as I went to boxing, I was dying to go every night, I just fell in love with it as soon as I started training,” said the 26-year-old.
It’s that enthusiasm that saw him thrust into the mix, and since turning professional in 2019, Mckeown is 4-0, having won on points against Jose Aguilar on his debut, done the same to Ed Harrison three months later, and achieved technical knock-outs against Levi Dunn and Brad Daws, the latter of whom had six straight wins under his belt beforehand.
Picked up by MTK Global, Mckeown trains with Coatbridge superstar Ricky Burns and has been at Keir Hardie Boxing Club for seven years, having also spent seven at Barn Boxing Club under the legendary Rab Bannan.
“At the start, we said we wanted to get tested straight away, and get chucked in at the deep end, and it has paid off,” he said.
“That gives you a bit of confidence. “MTK have been brilliant with me; if you ask for an opportunity they’ll go out of their way to try and get you it, and that’s what we’ve been doing.
“We’re not scared to fight people
who are 6-0 and stuff like that, which is why we got Brad Daws, and it has paid off for us.
“That win over Daws has raised a few eyebrows.
“I was over the moon with that, just beating somebody with double the fights, double the wins, double the knock-outs as me, so it was perfect.
“I’m four in four now, with two knock-outs.”
Mckeown is now back in training, waiting for his phone to ring, and the unorthodox featherweight hopes for a title shot at some point soon.
“There are a few shows coming up in the near future,” he said, “so hopefully I get a phone call for them in April or May.
“It’s just basically staying ready so that if the phone goes you’re ready to go any time.
“Hopefully this year or next I can get a shot at a Scottish or Celtic title, but we’ll just see how it goes.”
Mckeown has won Scottish Championships and Western District titles at amateur and senior level.
As an amateur he won a European bronze medal, plus titles in Scotland, England and Russia.
While he is an up-and-coming boxer, he’s not yet in the same bracket as local hero Ricky Burns.
He said: “Training with Ricky has been great experience, just picking up wee things off him in sparring and in the different ways he trains.
“Getting advice on track work and stuff that he does has been secondto-none.
“If I could follow in the footsteps of the stuff he’s done, and the way he has gone about it, I would be doing brilliantly.”