Andy Lee (boxer)

Lee was born in Bow, London, England, to Irish Traveller parents. In 1998, his parents returned to Castleconnell, County Limerick in Ireland with their six children.[3][4] Lee had previously been training at the Repton Boxing Club in London from the age of eight, and upon his family's return to Ireland, Lee and his brothers joined St Francis ABC in Limerick, where his boxing career took off.[4]

Lee signed his first professional contract with Manny Steward in 2005. He then moved to Detroit, Michigan where he lived with his longtime manager and trainer until Steward died in 2012. Following his death, Lee moved back to London where he joined up with English trainer Adam Booth.[5] It was with Booth that Lee won the WBO belt in 2014, becoming the first Irish boxer to win a world title on American soil since 1934.

Lee represented Ireland at the 2002 World Junior championships in Santiago de Cuba, competing in the middleweight category. Lee fought five times in a week beating Ismail Sillakh and United States favourite Jesus Gonzales but lost the final to Cuban boxer Noelvis Diaz to claim the silver medal.[3][4]

At the World Amateur Championships in Bangkok, Lee was beaten on points by eventual winner Gennady Golovkin who also defeated Lucian Bute and Matt Korobov on his way to the gold medal.

Lee traveled to Pula, Croatia for the European Amateur Championships in February 2004. He earned a bronze medal in the competition, and thereby qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics at just nineteen years of age.[4]

In June 2004, Lee won silver at the EU Amateur Championships. He lost to the vastly experienced, former world champion, Marian Simion in the Middleweight final.

Lee's first fight of the 2004 Olympics was against Mexican boxer Alfredo Angulo, who Lee defeated 38:23 on points. In the second round, Lee faced Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam of Cameroon. After four rounds the fight was drawn 27:27 and the bout was decided by "count-back". The verdict went the way of the Cameroonian, which ended Lee's hopes of a medal.[3][4] Lee was bitterly disappointed in the result and stated "I just didn’t fight to my ability. But when I got back home the people treated me like I’d won the gold medal."[3][4]

In February 2003, aged seventeen, Lee fought for the Irish senior amateur title in the middleweight division. That year he beat Eamonn O'Kane. The following year, Lee won the title after overcoming Patrick Murray for the honour. In 2005 Lee retained the title, this time by defeating Eamonn O'Kane in the final.[6]

After the Olympics, the Irish Sports Council had stated that they were prepared to fund Lee in order for him to continue at amateur level and compete at the Beijing Olympics. Lee however turned this offer down and signed a professional contract with trainer-manager Emanuel Steward, who had followed Lee's progress since the World Junior Championships. Lee subsequently emigrated to the United States where he trained at Steward's world-renowned Kronk Gym in Detroit.[4][7] Lee made an immediate impression, with Steward recalling - "The first time he’d flown from Ireland to Chicago, then to Detroit, and he wanted to spar. I said ‘No, you must have jet lag.’ But he insisted, so I put him in with Cornelius Bundrage, who was then undefeated. Andy pulled a mouthpiece out of his pocket, borrowed boots from one guy and gloves from another, then he doggone whooped ‘K-9’s ass."[8] His first professional bout was in March 2006, at the Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, in which Lee beat Anthony Cannon on a points decision over six rounds on a card that featured Johnathon Banks.

On 15 December 2007, Lee became the Irish Super-middleweight champion after he beat fellow Irishman Jason McKay at the National Stadium in Dublin.

In April 2007, HBO featured Lee as one of boxing's top prospects, with Larry Merchant commenting - "he looks like 10 million dollars". Star coach Steward was also quick to praise Lee, claiming on RTÉ television that by the end of 2008 he would defeat the then current world champion, Kelly Pavlik.[9]

In December 2007, ESPN also listed Lee as a top prospect saying - "Lee has all the potential to be the next great middleweight star. The 2004 Irish Olympian is a 6 foot 2 inch southpaw with skills, power and a streak as mean in the ring as he is personable outside of it. With trainer/manager Emanuel Steward molding him, Lee is moving quickly. He was 8-0 in 2007, including a thunderous knockout of faded former titleholder Carl Daniels. Lee is as blue chip as they come. If you could get stock in a prospect, he'd be near the top of the buy list."

On 21 March 2008, during his debut on ESPN 2, Lee suffered his first defeat after losing by TKO in the seventh round to Brian Vera. The stoppage was mildly controversial, as Lee was winning on points, and was still punching back as the referee Tony Chiarantano stepped in. However, he had been reeling and unsteady from heavy punishment and fatigue for several minutes, and neither he nor his corner complained at the stoppage.

On 19 July 2008 Lee defeated Willie Gibbs in the last round, when Gibbs's corner threw in the towel after a barrage of shots from Lee with 7 seconds to go.

On 21 March 2009, appearing on the undercard of the Bernard Dunne world title fight against Ricardo Cordoba, Lee beat the tough German brawler Alexander Sipos in a unanimous decision. This was a reckoning of sorts, as it occurred on the one year-to-the-day anniversary of Lee's first and only professional defeat.

On 20 June 2009, Lee outpointed Olegs Fedotovs in front of 60,000+ at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany for his 18th victory as part of the Klitschko-Chagaev undercard.

On 22 August 2009, Lee stopped Andy Shuler in the 8th round of a bout in Hammond, Indiana to earn his 19th victory and 14th KO.

A hometown crowd turned out in Limerick, 14 November 2009, to watch Lee defeat Frenchman Affif Belghecham in a ten-round battle of the southpaws. Shannonsider Lee outpointed the Frenchman 99–92; Lee stopped Mamadou Thiam the following year in the same venue.[10]

On 30 July 2010 Lee faced James Cook in Miami, Oklahoma and won the bout by a fifth-round knockout.

On 12 March 2011, Lee fought Craig McEwan at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, and won via technical knockout at 0:56 in the 10th round.[11]

He avenged his loss to Brian Vera on 1 October 2011 by unanimous decision.

On 10 March 2012, Lee Knocked out Mexico's Saul Duran in the 2nd round of a stay busy fight.

• Boxing record for Andy Lee from BoxRec
• Andy Lee in 'Sports People' file at Limerick City Library, Ireland