The Big Interview: Andy Lee, boxer

Winning a world championship was a dream for Andy Lee, all the more so after two major career-threatening defeats and then the passing of his legendary mentor Emanuel ‘Manny’ Steward. 

Don’t let the belt or his cleancut look and gentlemanly manner fool you though. Nothing has been sated. At 30 and working under the tutelage of Andy Booth, the man this week honoured as Limerick Person of the Year reckons he is now an even better fighter than the one who knocked out Matt Korobov in Madison Square Garden last December.

This isn’t Detroit. This sure isn’t the Kronk gym where he used to operate out of with Manny with its metal-grilled windows that used to block out the burned-out cars and dilapidated buildings which it itself resembled from its rundown red-brick exterior.