Andy Lee (boxer)

Infobox_Boxer

---

name=Andy Lee
realname=Andrew Lee
nickname= Irish
weight=Super Middleweight
nationality= |nationality= flagicon|Ireland Irish
birth_date=Birth date and age|1984|6|11|df=y
birth_place=Bow, London, England
home=Limerick, Ireland
style=Southpaw
total=17
wins=16
KO=13
losses=1
draws=0
no contests=0|

Andy Lee (born June 11, 1984 in London), is an Irish professional boxer from Limerick, Ireland who fights in the Middleweight division.

Background

Lee was born in Bow, London, England to Irish parents. In 1998 his parents returned to Castleconnell, County Limerick, Ireland with their six children.Fact|date=January 2008 The Lee family own a landscaping business in Castleconnell.

Amateur

As an amateur Lee competed in the middleweight (75kg) category. He won silver at the Junior World championships 2002 in Santiago de Cuba when he beat Ismail Sillakh but lost the final to local favourite Noelvis Diaz.Fact|date=January 2008

At the 2003 Senior World championships in Bangkok when he was beaten by eventual winner Gennady Golovkin after he lost 29:9 on points. However, he won bronze at the 2004 European Amateur Boxing Championships and qualified to represent Ireland at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. There he beat Alfredo Angulo Lopez from Mexico (38-23) By Unanimous decision. In round two he finished level (27-27) with Hassan Ndam Njikam of Cameroon, however he went out of the competition on a "count-back". Fact|date=June 2007

Professional career

After the Olympics, Lee signed as a professional and emigrated to the United States where he now fights out of the Kronk Gym in Detroit under the guidance of trainer-manager Emanuel Steward.

He is considered a rapidly rising star in the sport. [cite web | author=Boxrec | title="Andy Lee" | work=Boxrec Fighter Page | url=http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=344849| accessdate=13 March | accessyear=2007Boxrec Fighter Page]

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 [Lee] looks like 10 million dollars". Star coach Steward has also been quick to praise Lee, claiming on RTE television that by the end of 2008 he would defeat current world champion - Kelly Pavlik.Fact|date=January 2008

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 6-2 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 March 21 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 July 19,Andy Lee defeated Willie Gibbs in the last round, when Gibbs corner threw in the towel after a barrage of shots from Lee with 7 seconds to go.

Professional record

15-1-0
Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut, U.S.
bgcolor=FF4040 | L TKO 7
- valign="top"
2008-02-02
Alejandro Gustavo Falliga
10-2-0
Plymouth, Michigan, U.S.
bgcolor=CCFFCC|W KO 1
- valign="top"
2007-10-02
James Morrow
12-4-2
Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
bgcolor=CCFFCC |W KO 2
- valign="top"
2007-05-18
Clinton Bonds
17-2-3
New York City, New York, U.S.
bgcolor=CCFFCC |W UD 6
- valign="top"
2006-09-14
Jess Salway
5-5-0
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
bgcolor=CCFFCC |W TKO 1
- valign="top"
2006-04-22
Wassim Khalil

References

ee also

*Ireland at the 2004 Summer Olympics

External links

*
* [http://www.andyleeboxing.com Andy Lee has an official website at www.andyleeboxing.com Official Andy Lee website]
* [http://www.kronkgym.com The Official Website of the Kronk Gym]
* [http://www.bernarddunne.net/p_release7.php Lee added to star studded line-up at the Point]
* [http://amateur-boxing.w.interia.pl/WorldJuniorChamps2002.html 2002 results]