ANDY LEE bounced back from his defeat to Brian Vera with a confident points victory over European Union middleweight champion Affif Belghecham at the University Arena in Limerick on Saturday night.

ANDY LEE takes the biggest step of his career when he meets the French and European Union middleweight champion, Affif Belghecham, in what could turn out to be an eliminator for a European title fight at the UL Sports Arena in Limerick on November 14.

Andy Lee shrugged off the disappointment of losing his unbeaten record to Brian Vera in March by claiming a polished TKO win over highly-regarded American Willie Gibbs last night.

ANDY LEE is aiming to produce a knockout performance against Willie Gibbs at the UL Arena tonight which will put the Limerick man back into contention for a world title shot.

BOTH Andy Lee and Willie ‘The Gladiator’ Gibbs promised to end Saturday night’s Ladbrokes.com showdown at the UL Arena by knockout when they squared up before hundreds of fight fans at a public training session in Limerick yesterday.

FOLLOWING a surprise defeat in his last outing, boxer Andy Lee has chosen a tough comeback assignment, with the announcement at King John’s Castle in Limerick yesterday that his next opponent will be Philadelphian Willie Gibbs (20-3), at the UL Arena on Saturday July 19.

HALL of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward has promised Andy Lee will come back a better, stronger fighter after his shock first defeat as a professional last weekend.

IRISH middleweight Andy Lee has been assured his promotional deal with the Top Rank organisation remains intact following the first defeat of his professional career.

Andy Lee admitted he had nobody but himself to blame after he lost for the first time in 16 professional fights, going down to Brian Vera at the Mohegan Sun Arena in the early hours of this morning.

Limerick's Andy Lee suffered his first defeat as a professional boxer in the early hours of this morning as Brian Vera shocked him into a seventh round stoppage at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

ANDY LEE is determined to ignore talk of a major promotional deal with Top Rank and concentrate on making an impression in the ring as he makes his US national television debut tonight.

THE damage John Duddy sustained to his left eye looks certain to rule out the June 7 world title fight with Kelly Pavlik and, while Bob Arum is already looking around for a replacement, Andy Lee insisted yesterday that he won’t be rushing his world title ambitions.

ANDY LEE and John Duddy could touch gloves in a world title decider by November, according to Lee’s handler, Emanuel Steward.

Andy Lee's homecoming fight went without a glitch last night as he destroyed Argentina's Alejandro Falliga in five furious rounds at the University of Limerick Sports Arena.

ANDY LEE’S fight with Argentinean Alejandro Gustavo Falliga at the University of Limerick Arena tonight will be a rehearsal for a world title fight with Kelly Pavlik, according to trainer, Emanuel Steward.