Sole Irish boxer bound for glory

OLYMPIC champion, Michael Carruth believes boxer Andy Lee is primed for Olympic glory.

Carruth was among a select gathering yesterday to give Ireland’s only qualified Olympic boxer a warm send off as Lee departed for the penultimate phase of his preparations at a training camp in France.

Barcelona hero Carruth, has been working with the Limerick middleweight in Kildare for a couple of days but it was long enough for him to appreciate the 20-year-olds talents and predict he would be a big contender for a medal in Athens.

“He is tipped for a medal and I can see why,” he said. “He has a silver medal from the world junior championships, a bronze medal from the Europeans and now a silver medal from the European Union Championships.

“He in a club that nobody wants to come up against. The Cubans don’t want to fight the Irish and the Russians don’t want us either. He is in the club nobody wants.”

But Carruth, who boxed at the Seoul Olympics before winning gold in Barcelona warned Lee would not pick up a medal easily. “We are talking about the top 28 or 32 boxers in the world in each division. It won’t be a picnic.”

He stressed Lee was a young man with a bright future and hoped he would be around not just for Athens but Beijing as well.

“He will only be 24 then and if you look at the current list of medallists in relation to age they are all 27/28 year olds. In fact the last guy who beat him was 28 and a silver medallist in Sydney as well as a world and European champion.”

That point was also stressed by Lee himself when he assessed his chances and spoke of his main opponents.

“The Russian Gaiderbekov is very good,” he said. “I boxed him in 2002 and he beat me. The Kazakhstan, Goulikin is the world champion and the Cuban, Yordanis Despaigne, has been around for a long time.”

He will be one of the youngest in his division and ­ at 6’4” - he will be looking down on many of them. As well he has filled out in recent times and while still looking lean and mean he now finds that he has to come down to make the weight.

“Madrid was the first time I experienced that and I must admit it felt a bit unusual,” he said. “But I am now stronger in the ring and I am hurting those guys a lot more now.

“I am a realist and I know that the difference between winning and losing ­ first and fourth ­ will be minimal ­ maybe one punch and maybe one round.”

He admitted the draw could determine the whole competition and he has not thought about anything but winning. His whole attitude ­ his demeanour ­ oozes confidence.

“I want to bring home a medal. Everyone has done so much for me to help me prepare for the Olympics. I know they will be with me all the way but I also know that when the bell goes I will be on my own in there. It is exciting. I am looking forward to it. This is the moment. This is the real deal.”

Born in London of a Limerick mother and Dublin father, Andy is one of four brothers all of whom have boxed internationally. His older brothers, Thomas and Ned, have boxed for England while Roger, the youngest, has also boxed for Ireland. In fact Roger will travel to the Olympics as will Andy’s coach at the St. Francis Club, Finbarr O’Brien.

With just a team of one, Irish boxing is entitled to just one official at the Olympics but Michael Carruth believes there is a case for two.

“You need two in the corner and while you can always get someone from some other country to help out, the second Irish official in the corner could notice something that the other would not,” he said.

President of the IABA, Dominic O’Rourke, said they were scheduled to meet the Olympic Council of Ireland last evening to make a case for a second official.

Andy will be accompanied to the training camp in France by the coach, Performance Director, Gary Keegan, a physio and a nutritionist.

They will return home for four days and then Billy Walsh and the physio will travel out to complete the lead up to Athens.

Irish Sports Council chief, Pat O’Neill, was also present to show their support for the man who could be Ireland’s leading medal hope.

“He is a sportsman of great ability and potential and we are delighted to have been able to support his progress through the high performance programme operated by the IABA,” he said.