Adam Booth: Andy Lee development gives me goosebumps

Andy Lee’s preparation for his world title defence against Billy Joe Saunders has been helped by the frustrating double postponement, according to his coach Adam Booth, who has revealed how the improvement shown by the WBO champion in the gym alone has left him with ‘goosebumps’.

Lee and English middleweight Saunders were initially supposed to clash at Thomond Park back in September before the champion picked up a virus and the fight was put back four weeks. Then Saunders suffered a nasty cut during sparring meaning the fight was again rescheduled to this Saturday at the Manchester Arena, three months after its initial date.

But Lee’s coach and manager Booth, who steered David Haye to world titles at two different weights, says the extra time has allowed his man to develop even further.

He explained: “You could say that the postponements have helped us because time is precious and it’s something we can’t get back or manufacture.

“We’ve had more time to work on things because of the postponements. What I’ve seen developing and evolving in the last couple of weeks, from the training that we’ve done, has given me goosebumps, it really has.

“If he can show even 70% of what he’s shown me in the gym, it’s going to be good.”

Lee chose to work with Booth, from his south London base, following the death of his former mentor Emmanuel Steward. And, although they got off to an uncertain start, Booth guided Lee to that memorable Las Vegas victory over Matt Korobov, which secured the WBO title a year ago this month.

The coach added: “When I first started working with Andy, I even said it to him, I thought ‘I don’t know how to work with this guy’. I don’t know if I can do anything for him: the way he moved, the way he held himself, the way he approached things. It’s not what I had worked with before and it wasn’t necessarily what I thought was the best way.

“But I’m immensely grateful that he put his complete trust in me and I hope that I’ve done that trust justice in the work that I’ve done as his coach. We’re both very happy with where he’s at today but, as happy as we are, we’re equally as hungry to see how far he can go.”

Saunders, a former teenage amateur sensation who went to the Beijing Olympics with Great Britain aged just 18, is undefeated as a professional and has picked up the British, Commonwealth and European middleweight titles along the way. And Booth admits there are some parallels between the English star and Matt Korobov, who was once considered the world’s finest amateur before he turned professional.

Booth added: “They’re similar in terms of some things but they’re different in others. Matt Korobov is very, very quick with his feet, strong, crisp punches that were quick and would come in ones and twos.

“Billy Joe is known to want to let his hands go very quickly, very often. I think Billy Joe has better hands than Matt Korobov in terms of the speed of them and the regularity of them. Obviously, when you go to war, you have to know what guns, planes and tanks the other side have got and then what we’ve got to take not account. What defences have they got? What have we got?

“In preparing for Billy Joe, there were certain elements from the Korobov fight that were similar but there were also elements that were the complete opposite.”

Meanwhile, Saunders, five years Lee’s junior at 26, insists his youth will be a factor when they finally meet on Saturday. He said: “I’m the younger, fresher man. I think I have chosen the right road. Southern Area, British, Commonwealth, European and now world. I think it’s all leading to this moment on Saturday night.

“I feel good, nice and calm and ready to get the job done. Let’s get in there and see who the best man is.”