February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Lee [19-1, 14 KOs] recently relocated to the Big Apple from Motown, where his trainer-manager Emanuel Steward is based, but was still expected to train in Detroit before fights.
“He’ll train in New York for this fight,” Steward told the Echo last Sunday.
And for the first time since signing the Limerick southpaw, whom he has continuously touted as the best middleweight in the world, Steward will not be in Lee’s corner in Ireland on Nov. 14.
The legendary Kronk Stables godfather will be on the other side of the globe that same night providing expert analysis on the Miguel Cotto-Manny Pacquiao mega fight in Las Vegas for cable broadcaster HBO.
Training Lee for the Belghecham scrap, on a Brian Peters show at the Limerick Sports Arena, will be Kronk assistant Joey Gamache, a New York resident, and Steward’s nephew Javon [Sugar] Hill.
“I’ve watched him in action and he’s going to be a very tough opponent,” Lee said on the sweetscience.com “He’s the current European Union champion and is coming to this fight on the back of some very good wins. He’s never been stopped so it could be a tough night, but I’m looking forward to it.”
“[Lee] doesn’t want any pushovers, and he’ll certainly have his hands full with Belghecham, because he’s a quality operator,” said Peters, the promoter. “He’ll provide Andy with a very stiff test, but if he can come through this then I’m sure there could be some massive fights around the corner for him.”
Yet despite his respectable 19-3-1 ledger, Belghecham will have two strikes against him when he squares off with Lee. One is his power or lack thereof as evidenced by the four KOs on his record and the other is his age. At 35, the Frenchman is ten years older than the talented Lee.
WORLD CLASS
Lee has climbed one spot on the World Boxing Association [WBA] middleweight ranking to number 13. Germany’s Felix Sturm is the champion.
John Duddy remains ninth contender to Kelly Pavlik’s WBO diadem – five places behind Matt Macklin, the top ranked 160 pound Irish prizefighter. Macklin, who drilled Finn Amin Asikainen in one round to win the vacant European title last month, is up to number four in the WBO and number eight in the WBC.
CANCUN BOUND?
Duddy, meanwhile, could be headed to Cancun for his next fight, a tune-up for the planned monster showdown with Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. next year.
The Derry Destroyer’s outing in the Mexican resort is scheduled for Dec. 19.
Duddy is coming off an impressive eight round points win over Michi Munoz at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 9 and is already back in training.