Andy Lee: ‘It was always my dream to step off a plane at Shannon Airport with the belt’

IT SEEMED wholly appropriate that Andy Lee landed the punch that clinched this world title, the very same belt won by Steve Collins 20 years ago, moments after he had been rocked himself.

Matt Korobov, the highly favoured, undefeated Russian was ahead on the scorecards and seemed to have hurt Lee with a left hook midway through the sixth round.

But, as is customary, back came Lee, landing a crunching right hook which sent his opponent stumbling back across the ring. When he swarmed Korobov, the referee, Kenny Bayliss, had no choice but to intervene.

It is just the latest in a long line of fightbacks for the 30-year-old.

Lee had to bounce back from a surprising stoppage defeat to Brian Vera back in 2008. He did so, and got his first world title shot four years later. Then, when he lost that, it was straight to the back of the queue for him.

Worst of all, he had to cope with the loss of his mentor Emanuel Steward only months afterwards, and he has been rebuilding ever since. Indeed, he was even losing his last fight – against John Jackson – before a right hook finished the American.

There were echoes of that stoppage here, and the spirit of Steward which encapsulated Lee’s preparation during this fight week , made for an emotional night at the Chelsea arena in the bowels of the Cosmopolitan Hotel.

The Hall of Fame trainer’s widow, Marie, flew all the way from Detroit, the home of Steward’s legendary Kronk gym, to be ringside for Lee’s challenge. And he dedicated the victory to her and her sadly missed husband.

“It was in honour of him and all that he did for me over the years,” he said. “I know he’s looking over me and I know he’s happy now. When he passed away I said I was going to win a world championship and it made me even more determined. I did it today. I never lost faith in myself. I never lost that vision of being world champion. I knew in my heart that I would be.”

So what would Steward, the trainer of Tommy Hearns — regarded as one of the top 20 punchers in the history of the sport — have thought of the right hook that made Lee’s dream a reality?

“Emanuel developed that power when I turned professional,” he said. “I learned how to punch in the Kronk Gym. I want to be a boxer but I always know that if I’m in the trenches I can knock somebody out.”

Now attentions turn to the new year, when Lee, as the newest middleweight champion, will have options. The first of those will be Billy Joe Saunders, who is his mandatory challenger and Lee is determined to make his first defence a homecoming celebration.

Lee, who has now boxed 28 of his 36 fights on foreign soil, said: “If he wants to come to Ireland, he’s welcome. My first defence will be over there and I’m looking forward to bringing that belt home. It was always my dream to step off the plane at Shannon Airport with the belt.

“This fight was for me first, my family second and my country third.”