Impressive list of fighters lined up for Lee to fight
LIMERICK’s Andy Lee will have his eyes firmly set on one of Europe’s top boxing prizes as he goes into the ring at the Arena in the University of Limerick next month with the aim of a win taking him one step closer to a European title fight with the newly crowned Darren Barker (UK). Andy Lee will bring his 20 wins from 21 outings record back to UL to face an opponent to be named in the coming days –
but he’s eyeing up a shot with Barker in the very near future. Barker took the vacant European title after a close fought battle brought him a points win over one of Lee’s former opponents, Frenchman Affif Belghecham. Barker and Belghecham took to the ring last weekend for the fight as Matthew Macklin was forced to relinquish his crown after sustaining a badly broken nose during his sparring preparations at his US training camp ahead of his World title ambitions.
With former amateur Barker taking the vacant title, Limerick’s Andy Lee feels confident that a European title match will come his way much sooner and is preparing to bring big time boxing back to his native Limerick.
“I’m not going to be disrespectful to Barker, he’s a decent guy and he’s the new European Champion so full credit to him but I think his fight at the weekend exposed his limitations,” said Lee. Lee, who beat Barker’s opponent last November in Limerick said, “Belghecham is a handful, he’s durable and keeps rumbling forward and he had Barker on the run for most of the second half of the fight. I don’t think there was much in it after the 12 rounds and I know quite a few people thought Belghecham deserved to win it and the TV commentators only had Barker winning by a single round.”
Lee’s confidence is somewhat merited as he has a recorded victory over Barker in 2004 on an 18 points to eight win at the European Championships in Croatia, but both boxers have matured and changed since then and Lee is well aware of that.
“He’s a decent boxer but he didn’t really pose any problems for me on that occasion. Obviously the amateurs and the pro’s are two different codes”.
But Lee believes that history will repeat itself, “If we were to meet again, I’ve no doubt the result would be the same.”
Although Lee won’t be looking beyond May 15 next and his as yet unnamed opponent, he is hopeful of securing a shot at Barker’s title as soon as possible. “Given the fact that I beat Belghecham a lot more comfortably than Barker did, I feel I’m deserving of a straight shot at him. I’m sure Brian Peters could bring that fight to Limerick and it would be a huge fight for the city, it could even be staged in Thomond Park, but I’d fight Darren in his back garden for that title if needs be. Where ever or when ever we fight I’m confident I’d beat him again.”
For now though, Lee is concentrating on next months fight at his Florida training base and he’s looking forward to his fourth professional outing in his native city. “It’s always an incredible experience walking to the ring in your hometown,” said Lee.
“You recognise so many people in the crowd and it really brings it home to you that you are representing Limerick as much as you are yourself. The support is always incredible and the buzz in the city on the week of a fight when I head home is always great.”
The Yanjing Fight night at UL’s Arena on May 15 will see several Irish titles on the line with Limerick’s Jamie Power taking on John Waldron for the Irish Light Heavyweight title. Tickets from ticketmaster.ie and all usual outlets range from €30 to €100.
