Lee has chance to keep Irish flag flying in Pula

LIMERICK middle-weight Andy Lee has a chance to fight his way into the Athens Olympics in the Croatian city of Pula this evening, as he takes on experienced Serbian Nikola Sjekloca in the European Championship quarter-final.

The bout, to be broadcast live on Eurosport this tea-time, will be his toughest test yet and while his coaching team were sheltering Lee from the increased media interest yesterday, they are confident the Castleconnell southpaw can continue his single odyssey to keep the Irish flag flying in Pula.

“We are trying to keep Andy quiet until this bout, to ensure he doesn’t have any distractions,” said IABA’s high-performance director Gearoid Keegan. “We want Andy’s 100% focus to be on this fight. Sjekloca is a very experienced campaigner, he has been around the block a few times. So, it will be a big test for Andy.”

Lee beat Commonwealth champion Darren Barker on points to make the quarter-final with a wonderfully-measured performance. Lee works best when letting his opponent search for him. It is a strategy that Keegan believes will continue in tonight’s fight.

“I know Sjekloca knocked out the Armenian in the last round, but I don’t think he will be able to do the same to Andy. In his past two fights, the two guys have come to him, he hasn’t had to go looking for them and I expect it to be the same here. Andy is a cunning fighter, he draws people into his counter-punches as he showed against Barker.

“He likes to bait his opponents, drawing people into his right hook and left jab. If you wanted any fighter left in this position, it would be Andy Lee. He is always a confident fighter and is never intimidated by who his opponent is.” Which is a good thing when facing Sjekloca, who has six years on the 19-year-old former Irish Examiner/TV 3 National Junior sportstar.

Lee, who is the only Irish representative left in Croatia, won a silver medal at the World Junior Boxing Championships in Cuba and Keegan expects this experience will hold him in good stead. “Andy has been in Cuba at the Worlds, he knows the tension when a tournament gets to this stage. So, if everything is equal in the way of judging, we would be quite confident of Andy doing well. His opponent has had a couple of easy fights, but he won’t have it easy tonight.”

There were fears that Lee had suffered a hand injury in his bout against Barker. Keegan dismissed it yesterday it wasn’t anything serious. Whomever wins this quarter-final will get a much-coveted Olympic berth.