Andy Lee: ‘I’d love to finish as a champion, and end career on my terms’

Lost somewhere amidst the furore surrounding Michael Conlan’s professional bows at Madison Square Garden on St Patrick’s Day, Limerick’s former WBO world middleweight champion Andy Lee returns to the ring after a 16-month absence.

The 32-year-old former Olympian lost his strap to Billie Joe Saunders in December 2015, but is hopeful that an indian summer will beckon when he trades leather with American KeAndrae Leatherwood at MSG’s larger ‘Garden’ arena, on the undercard of the all-conquering Gennady Golovkin’s world middleweight title scrap with hometown fighter Danny Jacobs.

“It’s not so much about reliving the dream,” explains Lee. “That would be hard to recreate emotionally, the way I felt when I won the title. But my last fight, I just felt I didn’t do myself justice. I just don’t want to end my career on that note. I’d love to finish as a champion, and end it on my terms,” he says.