‘Rusty’ Lee pleased to get rounds under belt ahead of title bid

Andy Lee blamed ring-rust for his underwhelming performance against Frank Horta but is now hoping to seal a world title shot at light-middleweight before the end of the year.

Lee laboured to a majority decision over the tough Frenchman in Denmark, with one judge scoring the eight-round contest even at 76-76, while the other two gave it to Lee 77-76.

The Limerick southpaw and his trainer Adam Booth might have hoped for a more straightforward night’s work but it is worth remembering that before this fight, Lee had boxed just three rounds in the past 14 months.

“I was a bit disappointed when I left the ring but looking back on it, it’s a good win,” he told the Irish Examiner. “He was very hard and I’ve hardly boxed at all over the past year. I was rusty in there in all honesty and he was a better opponent than maybe we expected.

“So it was valuable to get the rounds. In my last fight I stopped the guy in the second round and the one before that was in the first, so I needed to go the distance. Even though it was a poor performance it was a good learning fight.”

As revealed by this paper earlier this month, Lee was campaigning for the first time below the 160lb middleweight limit after a weight-loss drive. The 29-year-old weighed in at 155lb on Friday and is confident he can bring it down one more pound to make his light-middleweight debut at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena on May 17.

“I’m going home to Ireland for a week then I’m straight back in the gym looking forward to Cardiff, which should be at 154lb,” he added. “In an ideal world that will be the first of four fights before the end of the year. And the fourth one will hopefully be for a world title. It’s crucial to stay busy.”

Elsewhere, Manny Pacquiao rekindled hope of a meeting with Floyd Mayweather when he beat Timothy Bradley on points to win the WBO welterweight title in Las Vegas.

Filipino Pacquiao, 35, who lost to American Bradley in a controversial encounter in 2012, said “I proved tonight that my journey in boxing will continue.”

Meanwhile, Ireland’s Elite boxers have claimed two gold, one silver and three bronze medals in two Multi Nation tournaments.

Michael Conlan beat Polish bantam Sylwester Kozlowski on a unanimous decision in the Feliks Stamm Memorial 56kg final in Warsaw, on Saturday and ex-Irish Elite champion Hughie Myers beat Wales’ Ashley Williams on a unanimous decision in the light-fly decider at the Gee Bee tournament in Helsinki, Finland yesterday.

Dean Gardiner (silver), David Oliver Joyce (bronze) and Dean Walsh (bronze) claimed medals in Warsaw. Kurt Walker secured bronze in Helsinki.