Lee ready to return to the big time

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.

Though beaten in his last two outings, until mid-2006 Gibbs was seen as a rising star in the States and those two losses were against top-10 opponents, his last outing a ten-round points loss to Raymond Juval.

Going by his reaction to this fight, the American has suffered no downturn in confidence.

“I’m still scratching my head about this fight,” he is quoted as saying, “I mean the guy (Lee) just suffered his first defeat and they want him to suffer a second one straight away. It doesn’t make sense to me but I’ll do what I have to do and that’s come to Ireland and destroy Andy Lee.”

Two men in search of redemption then, but the pressure is all on the home man, Andy Lee. On the fast-track to a world title, an impressive record of 15-0 as he headed into what was seen as a routine fight against another up-and-coming fighter, Brian Vera, last March, the Andy Lee train was unceremoniously derailed, the referee stopping the contest in the rugged Vera’s favour in the seventh round. Having been highly touted Stateside, shown for the first time live on ESPN, that fight was a huge opportunity for Lee to break into the big-time, an opportunity lost. Beaten, beaten up, the emotional scars took longest to heal.

“What can you say? A lot of restless nights, waking up, replaying the fight a thousand times in my head. I have the video, I’ve never actually watched it, but I’ve relived it a thousand times in my head, thought of what I could have done, what might have been.

“But look, it doesn’t exist, might-have-been only exists in the realm of speculation. What happened, happened, it wasn’t meant to be. It didn’t just happen, there were reasons for it.

“I watched tapes of him, but he never fought as hard in any of those other fights as he did that night. That was his big chance. It shows the reputation I have that a guy like Willie Gibbs, who is a seasoned pro, is saying that if he beats me he’s back on top.

“Brian Vera saw it as his chance to get a world title fight but to me it was just another fight. When a man turns up determined, prepared, it’s hard to beat him, you have to make sure you’re just as determined, just as well prepared.

“It’s been a tough, tough couple of months. I didn’t want to leave the house, wanted to be around my family, and they were a great support. I had a conversation with Brian [Peters, promoter] on the phone, he got around me. I still believe in myself; my confidence took a hit but my belief in myself is still there.

“I know where I can go, I know what I can do, I know what I want to do, and I’m still determined to do it. Hopefully this lesson will drive me on in the future. It was the worst experience I’d had in boxing, in my whole life, losing a big fight like that on such a big, big stage. He was ready, very determined, he came to fight. Myself? If I could sum up in one word why I lost, it was complacency. There was no thought about this guy turning up in great shape, he had trained for a long time.”

At the time there was much controversy over whether the referee had stepped in prematurely.

“I was obviously upset at the time but looking back, the referee made a decision and you have to respect that, no point crying about it. It was a tough fight but I shouldn’t have let it get to that stage, getting involved in a brawl. Everything I’d done during my whole career was about boxing, moving, using my skills, which was what got me that far.”

Why Willie Gibbs, though? Why take a chance with an opponent as tough as this, when confidence obviously needs rebuilding? “If I win it will probably put me ahead of where I’d have been if I’d beaten Brian Vera. His only losses have been to top guys in America, he’s a dangerous fighter. People aren’t fools, you can’t keep having easy fights, expecting people to turn up and pay good money; they pay good money to see a good fight, and me and Willie Gibbs will be a good fight.”

Also on the card at UL that evening will be exciting unbeaten light-welterweight prospect Paul McCloskey from Derry, who faces English champion Nigel Wright, an old foe from their amateur days. !

Supporting them will be welterweights Stephen Haughian, John O’Donnell, middleweight Jason McKay, and local heavyweight Jamie Power, a latecomer to the pro game at 28.