“If I threw one more punch...one more jab” - Lee’s Athens lament

ANDY LEE spent Saturday night in an Athens hospital, a lonely end to his Olympic dream but an environment in which he could come to terms with his devastating loss to Cameroon’s Hassan Ndam Njikam in their Olympic middleweight contest at the Peristeri Stadium.

The 20-year-old Limerick man went out of the Olympic tournament on a count-back after a spectacular comeback that saw him draw 27-27 with Njikam who had stolen a march early in the contest - winning the opening two rounds ­ but was left hanging on for dear life as Lee added a new dimension to his talents by storming back in Rocky-style finish.

“I thought he had done enough to win the fight in those last two rounds,” Irish coach, Billy Walsh, insisted. “I am a bit biased but I was taking a pretty logical look at the fight. I’ll admit that things did not go right for us early on and the Cameroon fighter won the first two rounds.