Super Lee Takes Irish Title

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Irish Voice Sport

Super Lee Takes Irish Title

December 20, 2007

By Declan O’Kelly

ANDY Lee captured the Irish super middleweight title in sensational fashion in Dublin on Saturday night at the National Stadium.

The 23-year-old Co. Limerick native gave Jason “Cool Hand” McKay a six-round boxing clinic where he out-punched, out-thought, and thoroughly outclassed his brave but limited adversary.

The fight started tentatively with both fighters cagey and patient. It wasn’t long before southpaw Lee started to penetrate with straight left hands that jolted McKay and won the round.

The second stanza began with Lee more active and increasingly more accurate with his jab, finding gaps in McKay’s defense with ease. An accidental clash of heads gave McKay a cut in his forehead, and to compound a tough round for the Down native, a vicious right hook from Lee sent him to the canvas.

McKay made it to the bell and showed his fighting spirit by gamely coming out in the third and throwing more punches, even landing a couple of hard rights.

Though Lee picked up a cut on his left eyelid, the Limerick man was still in complete control in his least dominant round of the fight. The remainder of the night was a procession of clinical shot making and ringmanship from Lee, who, totally relaxed, began to taunt his foe in the fifth by slapping his heart and sticking his chin out to McKay. The last six minutes saw Lee land at will and McKay was taking a beating.

At the end of the sixth McKay’s nose was bleeding freely; both eyes were closing shut and his forehead was open from the clash of heads. Having lost every round, including a 10-8 in the second, McKay’s corner wisely retired their fighter before the start of the seventh, handing Lee his first professional title.

The lead in to the fight had been acrimonious as McKay’s trainer John Breen claimed Lee had no heart at the final press conference and at the weigh in. A clearly peeved Lee promised retribution when the two fighters met in the squared circle.

After Lee’s performance Saturday night, the outspoken Breen and unfortunate McKay can attest that the trainer’s comments were misguided.

“I knew it was going to be a tough fight. He (McKay) is a seasoned professional and he gave me a tough fight tonight,” said Lee, now 14-0, afterwards.

“I had great support from the fans. I wanted to show him and John Breen that I had heart. I wanted to show bravado. If he hit me, I was going to hit him twice. That’s probably the worst thing you can say to any boxer. But I knew it was kidology, and we shook hands after. It is all forgotten now.”

Trainer Emanuel Steward reiterated that Lee would become world champion by knocking WBO/WBC champ Kelly Pavlik out at the end of 2008.

“Andy Lee is the complete boxer. He has a good chin, and he can punch between the hands. He thinks very well in the ring, and he is a mean fighter,” Steward said.

It was Steward’s next comments that had the crowd gasping a little. “There is no middleweight out there can beat Andy Lee. John Duddy may not want to fight Kelly Pavlik right now, but Andy will fight John Duddy or Kelly Pavlik right now.”

Steward’s belief in his fighter is complete, and though it would be the biggest Irish fight in years, the likelihood of a Duddy/Lee bout – unless the fight was a world title eliminator, or for the title itself – any time soon is remote. Both have differing paths to get where they want to be, but the end objective is the same – Pavlik’s WBC/WBO belts.

One man who definitely does not want to see the All–Irish middleweight fight happen any time soon is Brian Peters, who promotes both fighters in Ireland. The Meath businessman knows he can fill venues up and down the country with Lee and Duddy individually, and the promoter confirmed that Lee would head home for his next fight.

“All going well, Andy Lee will have his homecoming in Limerick early in the New Year,” said Peters. It looks like the fight might take place in early February at the University of Limerick.

Before Lee left the ring, he told the crowd what continues to motivate him. “It’s my dream to get off the plane at Shannon and walk down O’Connell Street and meet the people of Limerick with the WBC belt,” he said.

Meanwhile, Alo Kelly rounded off a busy week in Ireland when he TKO’d Andrei Tolstihs in the second round of their scheduled four round contest on the undercard of the Lee/McKay fight.

Kelly, who won in Belfast seven days earlier by tko against Sandris Tomson, has fought six times since July 27 and now has a record of 5-0-1. The Westmeath native has had a busy start as a pro and can look forward to testing himself further in the New Year.

Finally, Oisin Fagan (20-4) will hope to end 2007 on a high by winning with the USBA lightweight title. The Oklahoma-based Dubliner will take on Verquan Kimbrough for the vacant belt on December 30 in West Virginia.

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