‘Fitzer’ faces major battle for Euro belt

ANTHONY FITZGERALD was handed the opportunity of a lifetime with a shot at the EBA European middleweight title as chief support bout to the Guillermo Rigondeaux-Willie Casey WBA title fight at City West on March 19 but he was also handed a difficult opponent in Affif Belghecham.

Fight fans will remember Belghecham’s barnstorming finish against Andy Lee in Limerick in November of 2009 which had the Limerick southpaw on the back foot for much of the last round. The decision went to Lee with the former European Union middleweight champion bemoaning the fact that he had left his onslaught so late.

Belghecham had spent most of the fight trying to lure Lee on to the ropes, but his opponent was having none of it and evaded the big bombs until the closing minutes.