BOXING: ANDY LEE might have stolen the show with his come-from-behind 10th-round knock-out of Edinburgh's previously unbeaten Craig McEwan on Saturday's nationally-televised card at the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, but the Limerick middleweight was less than pleased by a performance that made the dramatic rally necessary.

After stinging McEwan in a dominant opening round in which he bloodied the Scotsman’s nose and wobbled him visibly with a crushing right hook, the Irish southpaw all but abandoned his boxing skills in an attempt to finish the job early. This in turn allowed McEwan to battle his way back into the fight behind a disciplined jab, and before he knew what was happening Lee, who seemed at turns both confused and uninspired, had dug himself into an almost insurmountable hole on the judges’ scorecards.

“Overall, I wasn’t happy with my showing,” said Lee. “I hurt him early in the fight, and I think that worked against me. I loaded up too much, and once I got into that habit it was hard to get out of it.”

Through six rounds, McEwan was backing Lee up as he piled up a big lead on the cards. Realising he was in grave danger of losing the fight and with it a promised title shot against world champion Sergio Martinez, Lee recalled asking himself “What the hell am I doing here?”

“It was a big opportunity and I told myself ‘If I’m going to lose he’s going to have to kill me’. I was ready to walk through fire if I had to.”

Despite walking through McEwan’s jab to land combinations of his own, with two rounds remaining Lee still trailed by four, two, and two points on the three judges’ cards.

“He had to do something dramatic,” said promoter Lou DiBella. “I was proud of Andy’s performance.”

With half a minute left in the ninth, Lee unloaded a right-left combination that dropped McEwan on his backside. Then in the 10th, with the fight dead level on two scorecards, Lee caught the weary McEwan with a devastating overhand left so emphatic referee Steve Smoger waved it off the instant McEwan hit the floor.

The Scotsman remained on the canvas for nearly a full minute.

“It wasn’t my best performance, but it was a great victory,” said Lee of his courageous win. Lee is now 26 to 1, McEwan 19 to 1.

Although Lee is trained by Emanuel Steward and McEwan by Freddie Roach, neither Hall of Fame trainer was at Foxwoods.

Roach was at Manny Pacquiao’s camp in the Philippines, while Steward was in Las Vegas, where he worked the corner of Miguel Cotto in the WBA light-middleweight champion’s successful defence against Ricardo Mayorga. Roach deputy Jesse Acevedo worked the Scotsman’s corner against Lee, while Steward’s nephew and aide-de-camp, Javon Hill, as he has in the past, served as the Irish boxer’s chief second.

When HBO analyst Max Kellerman suggested afterward Lee, particularly in his lost-in-the wilderness rounds, might have missed the advice and counsel of his career-long trainer, Lee quickly corrected him.

“With all due respect to Emanuel, my corner didn’t do anything wrong tonight,” said Lee. “ were telling me the right things to do. I was the one making the mistakes.”

Lee had signed a promotional contract with DiBella on the understanding a win over McEwan would lead to a title shot against Martinez, but Lee’s difficulties with McEwan and Martinez’ spectacular win over the previously unbeaten Ukrainian Sergiy Dzinzurik (whom he knocked down five times on the way to an eighth- round stoppage Saturday night) only underscored the wide gulf separating the two, and that Lee, at 26, 10 years younger than Martinez, might better bide his time than rush into what at this stage would likely loom as a mismatch.

“Sergio has great speed,” conceded Lee. “He would be a tough challenge for me.”

“I’ll sit down next week with Emanuel Steward,” said DiBella, “Sergio won’t be Andy’s next fight, but his performance against McEwan did establish Andy as an HBO attraction, which is the best thing for him right now.”

The elusive title fight may yet remain a few fights away, but Lee, who earned $100,000 (€72,000) for his debut on the American cable giant, can expect at least as much for the next step in his apprenticeship.