Lee says Nevin fight was the high point

Andy Lee, Ireland’s only boxer to qualify for the Athens Olympics in 2004, believes John Joe Nevin’s victory over Cuba’s world bantamweight champion, Lazaro Alvarez, was one of the best contests of the whole tournament.

“It has been a great two weeks over here for Irish boxing,” he said.

“I’ve enjoyed every minute of it and I’m very proud of the boys and the whole team and the way they handled themselves over here. They did us all proud.

“It’s good to come along and watch them and support them as much as I can.

“John Joe Nevin’s fight against the Cuban capped the whole week, for me. That performance was world class and I would rate it as one of the best performances of the whole tournament. That was right up there with the best of all time Irish performances.

“The Cuban is a very good boxer. He is the world champion and John Joe made it look easy. Tonight was a bit disappointing for John Joe but it has been a great Olympics for him.

“But we watched these last few fights here with the men and we were saying you wouldn’t consider them the world’s top standard of boxing. Katie Taylor’s fight was a higher standard. It just shows how well she’s done. She’s a superstar now.”

Luke Campbell eventually defeated John Joe Nevin in the bantamweight final and admitted it took something extra special to overcome the Mullingar man.

“I knew it was going to be a very technical fight,” he said.

“He’s a very clever fighter and that was the plan. I listened to my coach’s game plan and obviously the plan was to draw him in because if he’d have got back foot that’s what suits him best so I needed to take that away from him.

“I can’t believe it I’ve won. I can’t believe it. It’s a day I’ve dreamed of for a long, long time. To actually be here to have achieved that goal — I’m lost for words. It means everything — my family, my city [Hull], they’ve all been supportive of me.

“The first fight is always the worst. You’re coming out to the crowd. No one wants to get beaten especially in the first fight. There’s a lot more nerves and pressure in the first fight. As the tournament went along I settled in. It depends on who’s in front of you. Styles make fights and to be the best you’ve got to beat all the styles.

“With John Joe I wasn’t looking for the stoppage whatsoever. He’s a class fighter. He’s very tough. He’s strong himself.

“My plan was just to flow, let the punches go move side to side and listen to my coaches. If the knock down comes it comes but I wasn’t looking for it. So after that I just had to carry on doing what I was doing and not be silly.”