Former heavyweight king Lennox Lewis is a fan of Padraig McCrory’s work

It seems former unified heavyweight champion of the world Lennox Lewis is a Padraig McCrory [9(4)-0] fan.

One of the stars of 90’s heavyweight boxing came across the Belfast fighter’s sensational stoppage of Manny Bique, which played out on a small hall show at the Devenish in February of of 2018.

So eye catching was the single punch KO victory that it won Irish-boxing.com’s Irish Knockout of the Year in 2018 by a landslide vote.

However, the former Manny Steward trained British big man saw a lot more in the knockout that just ‘The Hammer’ landing a hammer blow.

Somewhat ironically considering the aggressive nature of the stoppage, Lewis used the footage of the KO to make some defensive points.

The now boxing pundit seems to suggest McCrory benefited from being proactive defensive rather than shelling up when stopping Bique, a super middleweight who also packs a punch.

“Good things don’t always come to those who wait. In the ring you want to get off first instead of waiting around in a defensive position, which tells your opponent that you’re not throwing punches,” explained Lewis.

“Defense invites offense. If I know you’re staying in a defensive mode, I’m going to come with my offense. Good fighters can easily slip between offense and defense, but they also know that staying in defensive mode too long can put them at a serious disadvantage, even when they aren’t hurt.

“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a great defense, but the best know how to use the defense to protect themselves and then counter with offense.”

McCrory who was last seen registering a last round stoppage victory over Steve Collins Jr at the Falls Park in August is next out on February 1.

The Ray Ginley trained BUI Celtic Champion takes on Dan Blackwell [7(1)-68(1)], a fighter who has only been stopped once in 68 defeats.

Secure victory on the #MTKFightNight at the Ulster Hall and the Belfast fighter could look to set up a fight with Taylor McGoldrick.