Lee relaxed and ready to rumble on Shannonside
However, there was nothing sinister about the no-show as Mamadou Thiam’s entourage had got caught up in a traffic accident and missed their flight. Now he has been scheduled to arrive at Shannon Airport tomorrow.
The hundreds who turned up at the Crescent were not disappointed, however, as they watched Lee and the three Cork-based former Cuban world junior champions work-out.
Lee, however, was the main attraction and seldom has he looked so relaxed in advance of a fight: “I am much more relaxed for this fight than I was for my last fight here, in November,” he said.
“There was a lot of pressure and a lot of tension surrounding that fight and he was a very awkward opponent as well. This fellow is more suited to me. He will be there to fight and he will come out and fight.
“I have been training since last January because I had the possibility of a fight in April that didn’t come off and I was training hard for that. Then I just kept the head down and stayed in the gym so all in all, I have trained pretty good for the fight.
“I trained in New York the whole time but for the last three weeks I went to Florida just to get away and trained down there in camp and it was very good. Emanuel (Steward) was down there. We were part of the training camp.”
He insisted, however, that his fight is not a huge step up for him when compared to Affif Belgecham’s visit last November.
“The last few fights have all been tough – the only difference is that this guy has got a lot of experience,” he said. “He has a big punch – you know that from his record so I have to give him plenty of respect and I have to be careful with him early on.
“He is a little bit past his best but he’ll be dangerous. You don’t have almost 50 wins and 43 KOs without picking up a lot of experience. It is good for me. I need a good challenge.”
The Lee-Duddy-Macklin scenario is always at the back of his mind and he insists that he can compete with either of the other two.
“I would be confident of beating both of them or else I would not be talking about them,” he said.
“Duddy has a big fight coming up against Chavez – a world title eliminator – and that is a big step up for him so I am probably the furthest thing from his mind right now and Macklin has just announced a fight against an Australian guy so we are all getting to advanced stages in our careers and pushing towards top 10 or whatever.
“From that point of view if we do have the fights, they are going to be significant fights with a greater meaning not just in Ireland but worldwide.”
He does not see the European title as essential to his progression but he would certainly take the shot at it if it came his way.
“It’s never been my ultimate goal to be European champion but if I can pick up the European title on the way, it will be nice,” he said. “It would be a great title to have – it’s a historic title – and if the opportunity came along I would certainly jump at it.”
His trainer, Joey Gamache, would like to see him fight for the European title because he feels he is ready to win it right now.
“I guess I’d like to see him fight for the title although it’s not essential,” he said. “It’s just a matter of first things first. I mean it’s hard to look past this guy (Thiam) because he is so dangerous. He is a good puncher. I never look past a fight but I think Andy is about ready for a European title or even a world title fight.”
Meanwhile world and European lightweight champion, Katie Taylor, has been ruled out of Saturday night’s undercard. She broke her nose in training last week.
And Ian Tims has also cried off on account of an injury he picked up in training on Monday. The unbeaten Dubliner had been scheduled to box Mayo’s Michael Sweeney for the Irish cruiserweight title.
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