UNBEATEN Limerick middleweight Andy Lee chalked up the 15th win of his career after dropping Argentinean Alejandro Gustavo Falliga three times in the fifth round at a packed-out University of Limerick Sports Arena last Saturday night.
Falliga, who was training in Lee’s old St Francis club in Limerick before Saturday’s fight, spent most of the bout running away from Lee’s advances.
However, he stopped running too soon in the fifth and was floored by a classic left near the neutral corner and was felled again by a glancing right moments later in the centre of the ring.
Following a furious exchange, the Buenos Aires puncher then hit the canvas for a third time and was taken into protective custody by the ref one minute and 49 seconds into the round.
Once Falliga – who des-cribed himself as a dedicated supporter of Argentinean soccer giants River Plate – realised his big right wasn’t going to work, he was in survival mode from the second round on against Lee, a Man United fan.
The 2004 Irish Olympian vented his frustration at Falliga’s negative tactics in the third, suggesting with open arms that his opponent appeared to be more interested in running than fighting.
Falliga was certainly on the back foot throughout, but did manage to land a few punches in between being caught by rights and lefts by Lee, who staggered the Argentinean back against the ropes with a stinging long-range left in the third.
Speaking after the fight, Lee admitted that he was less than impressed with Falliga’s tactics.
“I’m thrilled with the win and I would like to thank the Limerick fans who have been absolutely magnificent here tonight and in the build up to the fight,” he said after his victory just a short walk away from his family’s home in Castleconnell.
“I thought that Falliga’s tactics were very negative. Once he knew that his right hand wouldn’t work he was on his bike and it was very frustrating as he just refused to fight.
“I got the cuts over my eyes from clashes of heads. My former coaches Ken Moore and Finbar O’Brien warned me that he was leading with his head when he was working on the bags in St Francis and so it proved to be.
“But he is a dangerous fighter and I had to maintain my concentration and be patient and wait for my opportunity to arrive, and it did.”
It was indeed a triumphant homecoming for the Limerick southpaw, and according to his manager and coach Emanuel Steward, they will be targeting a world title before the end of the year.
Steward indicated that 23-year-old Lee, who fights out of the Kronk Gym in Detroit, would meet unbeaten Derry middleweight John Duddy before the end of 2008.
Duddy is due to challenge reigning world middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik at Madison Square Garden in June – a fight that has already been pencilled in by pay-per-view giants HBO via Bob Arum and Top Rank Promotions. The winner or loser from that battle could then meet Lee this year.
Meanwhile, Lee will clash with 15–1 Texan Brian Vera in Connecticut on 21 March.
In other action on the Limerick card, classy Dun-given light welterweight Paul McCloskey maintained his unbeaten run following a deserved victory over evasive Mexico puncher Manuel Garnica in the Treaty City.
Guadalajara-born Garnica arrived on Shannonside with quite a respectable reputation, having won 21 of his 29 pro fights up to that point.
However, McCloskey produced a performance of control and patience, and no little class, to record the 15th win of his career after being declared a 98–93 winner.
Elsewhere on the undercard, Co Down super middleweight Jason McKay bounced back from his defeat to Andy Lee at the National Stadium last December after taking all six rounds versus Latvian Martins Kuklus.
McKay did most of his good work in the third and final round of this six rounder, catching his man with good shots to the body and head before being handed a 60–54 verdict.
Ciaran Healy – another man beaten by Lee – was in against another Latvian, Pavel Lotah, but there was to be no Irish double here as Lotah won the light middleweight contest (58–56) to record his first win in four attempts.
In an impressive display, Cork’s Cuban import, Mike ‘El Rebelio’ Perez, a former world junior light heavyweight champion, chalked up his second win in seven days following a first round demolition of Sandor Balogh.
Perez, who entered the ring sporting Irish and Cuban flags, dropped the Hungarian to one knee within 20 seconds and then floored him again moments later before the ref stopped the contest.
Rounding out the card, cruiserweight Michael Swee-ney edged out Jevgenijs Andrejevs in a four round contest, winning 39¬–37.
In amateur news, French former World flyweight champion and two-time Olympic medallist Jerome Thomas could meet Irish 2008 light flyweight champion Paddy Barnes as part of an Ireland–versus–France test match at the National Stadium in Dublin this Wednesday.
Gary Keegan, who directs the Irish Amateur Boxing Association’s (IABA) High Performance Unit, confirmed that France had agreed to a test match at the stadium on Wednesday evening. The test match (at 7.30pm) will be open to the public.
The English and French arrived at the National Stadium on Monday last to begin a six-day training and sparring camp with Ireland at the home of Irish boxing.
All three countries are using the South Circular Road venue as part of their preparations for next summer’s Olympics and the second last Olympic qualifier for Europeans, which begin in Pescara, Italy later this month.
Thomas won his world title in Barnes’ hometown of Belfast in 2001 and claimed silver and bronze at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics in Sydney and Athens.
According to Gary Keegan, every boxer taking part in this weeks training camp will get at least thirty rounds of sparring under their belts.
The second last Olympic qualifier for European boxers begins in Pescara on 24 February. Ireland will depart for their final training camp in Rome on 16 February before the tournament.
The final Olympic qualifier for Europeans will take place in Athens in April. However, Irish boxers failing to secure Olympic qualification in Pescara are not guaranteed their places on the Irish squad for Athens.
Instead, they will compete in a box-off with the semi-finalists from last month’s National Senior Championships, with the winners being named on the Irish panel for the qualifier in the Greek capital.
