Lee ready to break French resistance
Yesterday he came face to face with Lee at the weigh-in ahead of the Yanjing Beer Fight Night and while the Limerick southpaw did not get involved in any small-talk Lee made his intentions quite clear: this is his party and no one, least of all Belgecham, is not going to spoil it.
Lee paid little attention as the French champion weighed in at 11st 6lbs 8ozs and sought to have the weight converted into kilograms before tipping the scales himself at 11st 8lbs.
Then he slipped quietly away for a meal at a nearby restaurant and left others to discuss the possibilities and opportunities that lie in wait for the winner of tonight’s contest.
“Belgechem is the highest ranked opponent that Andy Lee has fought,” promoter Brian Peters pointed out. “Maybe he is on the wrong side of 30 but he is a champion and he has the best possible motivation.
“Look at it from his prospective. If he beats Andy Lee he gets a world title shot so I don’t think you can have much more of an incentive than that. Andy is No 14 with the WBA and if he wins this fight I believe he could crack the top 10 with most of the governing bodies.
“Matthew Macklin is doing commentary for RTÉ and he is the reigning European middleweight champion so there is a great bit of fun there.
“There is a world title fight in the offing for Macklin. We have a mandatory coming up for Matthew in February and he would not be my first choice as an opponent.
“If things progress as planned there is the big possibility of a world title fight. We have been involved in talks. The next three or four months will tell a lot. We don’t want to tempt fate. Andy has this fight and Matthew has a tough Uruguayan opponent at the stadium in December.
“If Matthew goes on to the world stage there is a possibility that Andy (Lee) will box for the vacant European title. If he does not there is a possibility that Andy and Matthew will meet next year and what a fight that would make.
“Andy wants the fight and Matthew Macklin wants the fight. Ideally it would be for a world title fight but the two boys are up for it.”
Lee, who launched his professional career with the Kronk gym in Detroit, has based himself in New York to prepare for the fight under his old Kronk trainer, Joey Gamache.
Gamache said Lee is continuing to progress but he dismisses talk of a world title fight at the moment.
“This is his 21st fight and he is in great shape, he has worked hard,” Gamache said. “We did a lot of training in The Bronx, got some good work, stayed with just southpaws and we are ready for this fight. We went into the ghetto to get the toughest sparring possible. We came out feeling good.
“We are not in a rush with Andy. When the time is right we will make the move. Andy could win a world title right now but we need to focus on what’s in front of us and that’s Affif Belghecham.”
Now Andy Lee has to put it all together. A former world junior silver medallist for Ireland, this is Lee’s third professional fight in Limerick – he stopped Alejandro Gustavo Falliga in five rounds in February 2008 and was coming back from the Vera defeat when he stopped the teak-tough American, Willie Gibbs in 10 rounds, in July of last year.
Tonight’s Programme:
International Middleweight: Andy Lee (Ireland) 11 st 8 lbs v Affif Belgecham (France) 11 st 6 lbs 8 ozs.
Light Heavyweight: Alexandr Dunecs 12 st 6 lbs 8 ozs v Jamie Power (Limerick) 12 st 8 lbs
Super Middleweight: Jeam Ridrigue Kamdoun (Cameroon) 11 at 11 lbs 4 ozs v Matt O’Brien (Canada) 11 st 12 lbs 4 ozs.
Light Heavyweight: Martins Kokuls (Latvia) 12 st. 4 lbs v John Waldron (Ballyhaunis) 12 st 5 lbs 4 ozs.
Featherweight: Michael O’Gara (Middlesbrough) 9 st. v Willie Casey (Limerick) 9 st 0 lbs 4 ozs.
Middleweight: Marcen Gierke (Germany) 11 st 4 lbs v Lee Murtagh (Belfast/Leeds) 11 st. 5 lbs.
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