Lee impresses on return

ANDY LEE made a triumphant return to the National Stadium when he launched another defence of the national senior middleweight title he won two years ago with a very impressive 19-8 victory over Hugh Joyce (St. Michael's, Athy).

It was Lee's third contest since the Athens Olympics and his first over four rounds and he never put a punch or a foot wrong. He took an early 5-1 lead at the end of the first round with some perfectly placed counter punches but it was when he began to put the three and five punch combinations together that he really impressed.

Joyce possesses a lot of experience and he was game to the end. Scoring with some good single punches but he could never get the combinations together quick enough as Lee countered with speed and accuracy.