No let-up for red-hot Lee

MIDDLEWEIGHT boxing prospect Andy Lee is to make a quick return to the ring next month in Chicago.

The former Irish Olympian from Limerick took his unbeaten record to eight wins in New York last Friday night with a stunning one-punch, third-round knockout of former world champion Carl Daniels at the Madison Square Garden Theatre.

Lee, 22, trained in Detroit by legendary Kronk Gym chief Emanuel Steward, now says he could fight next month in the Windy City.

“It looks like I’ll fight again on April 18 in Chicago,” Lee said. “There’s a small show on there and maybe I’ll go there and fight.”

The Irishman was delighted to record the fifth knockout of his pro- career with a punch described by a watching Barry McGuigan as a contender for “knockout of the year”.

Equally as pleasing for the southpaw, however, was the manner in which he felt he managed the bout against a rival climbing into the ring for the 61st time in the paid ranks.

“He caught me a couple of times, countering me when I went in too eagerly, but apart from that I thought I boxed well and showed some poise and that I can fight with patience. A lot of other young fighters would have run in there, steamed in and got carried away with the crowd and atmosphere. I boxed to my strengths and the punch came when it did.

“I knew he’d come to fight, he’s an ex-world champion and he wasn’t coming to lie down. He was coming to teach me a lesson. I hit him with a body shot once and he countered me lovely. I actually smiled at him because I knew it was good and it was a punch I like to throw. It was almost like looking at myself, southpaw against southpaw. Up until the point where I pulled the shot I was winning but I wasn’t dominating so I was pleased when the chance came to throw that one.”

So was McGuigan, who was commentating on the whole pay-per-view television card headlined by Derry’s middleweight contender John Duddy.

On a night when Duddy wowed a sell-out crowd of 4,995 fans with his ninth-round technical decision victory over Anthony Bonsante, the former featherweight champion said Lee’s demolition of Daniels was the most impressive feat of the evening.

“It was a one-punch knockout, in his eighth professional fight, against an ex-world champion, it’s got to be Andy Lee,” McGuigan said. “It was a brilliant right-hand, just as Daniels looked as if he was coming into the fight and suddenly a beautiful dummy jab turned into a hook. A fabulous knock-out, a great fighter, he looked very impressive.

“It would be difficult to beat that and that’s up for knockout of the year. What I liked about it was that he was audacious, he took his chance. Okay, Daniels is 36, coming off six losses but it was an impressive confident performance and Andy looks very exciting.”

New York-based Duddy, meanwhile, will bid to further his growing popularity across the US with a guest appearance on national cable sports network ESPN tonight. Duddy, whose win over Bonsante moved him to 19-0 with 15 KOs, will join host Brian Kenny in the studio for the weekly live boxing show ‘Friday Night Fights’.

“It’s fantastic,” Duddy said of the invitation to appear. “We’re going to have a great time. It proves that we’re moving in the right direction. I’m really going to enjoy the experience.”