THE homecoming began in earnest for unbeaten Irish middleweight Andy Lee last week as he performed a media workout at his old St Francis Club in Limerick.
Lee, who boxes out of the Kronk Gym in Detroit and who remains undefeated after 14 fights, is due to meet Argentina’s Alejandro Gustavo Falliga at the University of Limerick (UL) on Saturday 2 February.
Tickets for the fight sold out within hours of going on sale as Lee, a three-time Irish senior champion and ex-Olympian, continues to attract the type of support usually only enjoyed by the Munster rugby team in Limerick.
According to his brother Roger Lee – who will be in his corner at UL, along with Emanuel Steward, Javan Hill and Joey Damache – Andy is totally focused on Saturday’s showdown.
“Andy will do a bit of shadow boxing for the media tonight and he is looking forward to the workout and meeting all the lads at the club again this evening,” said Roger.
“We have been watching some videos of Falliga over the last few weeks. He is a decent fighter and he will be hungry to win on Saturday night.
“Andy will be very focused for this one and he really wants to put on a good show in his home town in front of his own supporters.”
While St Francis, which is one of Ireland’s oldest boxing clubs, provided the venue for the media workout, Lee will do most of his training at the Rathkeale Club in before Saturday’s clash.
Meanwhile, Lee’s fellow Irish middleweight John Duddy looks set to get a shot at Kelly Pavlik’s world title in June. But it could be contingent on how both boxers do in their next fights, according to Bob Arum Promotions.
Pavlik will meet Jermain Taylor in a catchweight rematch in Las Vegas on 16 February, just a few months after relieving Taylor of his world title, while Duddy is set to clash with Canadian-based Tunisian Walid Smichet on the Wladimir Klitschko/Sultan Ibragimov undercard at Madison Square Garden on 23 February.
According to Lee Samuels of Bob Arum Promotions, they will make an announcement after both fighters come through those bouts.
New York-based Duddy remains unbeaten after 23 outings. But the Derryman failed to impress in his last fight at The King’s Hall in Belfast in December, just edging out Howard Eastman in a bout many felt that Eastman had at least drawn.
Elsewhere, unbeaten Cork puncher Billy Walsh is now targeting a Massachusetts state title after claiming the vacant Irish welterweight crown, following a thrilling win over James Gorman in Cork.
Boston-based Walsh chalked up the fifth win of his career after being handed a 96–95 verdict at the end of a seesaw battle at the Neptune Sports Arena on Saturday night last.
But Gorman almost snatched it right at the death, catching Walsh with a flurry of punches just before the bell for the conclusion of the ten-rounder.
Walsh admitted: “It was a lot harder that I thought it would be and I take my hat off to James as he never backed off and he caught me with some great shots.
“I took the first six rounds but I had to dig deep near the end. I didn’t deserve a count in the final few seconds as I was pushed back against the ropes more than anything.
“There could be a rematch, but first I will fight for a Massachusetts state title at the Roxie in Boston on 15 March, and then Pascal Collins is planning a show in Dublin.”
On the same card, former world junior amateur champion Mike ‘El Rebelio’ Perez made a sensational pro debut, stopping Jevgenijs Stamburski in the first round.
Cuban-born Perez dropped Stamburski twice inside the first two minutes before the Latvian was taken into protective custody by referee David Irving after 85 seconds.
The 22-year-old, who has signed a pro deal with Cork promoter Gary Hyde, will box on the Andy Lee undercard at the University of Limerick next weekend.
And according to Hyde, Perez – who had former Irish coach Nicolas Cruz in his corner on Saturday night – will bring a world title back to Cork.
“Mike made a huge impression on Saturday night and even though it was fairly brief he gave an exhibition of boxing in the time he was in the ring,” said Hyde.
“I have absolutely no doubt that he will bring a world title back to Cork in the near future. He is very focused and has all the skills and the right attitude to achieve just that.”
Gary O’Sullivan, Patrick Hyland, Jonathan O’Brien and Scott Belshaw also recorded victories at the Neptune Stadium, with unbeaten Belshaw stopping Aleksandre Barhovs in the third.
In amateur news, Irish boxing chiefs will ask their English and French counterparts to agree to six-round sparring sessions when the three nations take part in a weeklong sparring camp at the National Stadium in Dublin early next week.
The English and French are duo to arrive in Dublin on 4 February as all three countries up their preparations for the penultimate Olympic qualifying even for European boxers, which begins in Pescara, Italy on 26 February.
England will name a full-strength squad for Dublin, including world lightweight champion Frankie Gavin – whose mother is from Tipperary and whose father hails from Dublin.
Gavin claimed an historic gold medal for England at last November’s World Champion-ships and Olympic qualifiers in Chicago after beating Italy’s Domenico Valentino in the 60kg final.
The Irish squad finished up their training camp in Donegal last Friday, and according to The Irish Amateur Boxing Associa-tion’s (IABA) High Performance director Gary Keegan, they got an enormous amount of work done.
“Our training camp in Donegal has gone exceptionally well, and the new members of the squad have adjusted very well to what has been a very demanding week,” said Keegan.
“We are now entering what is another crucial month for Irish amateur boxing as the Olympic qualifiers are just around the corner.”
The Irish squad will depart for Rome for their final training camp on 16 February before travelling to Pescara for the Olympic qualifiers.
Boxers failing to secure Olympic qualification in Pescara will compete in a box-off against the semi-finalists from the Senior Championships to win a place on the Irish squad for the final Olympic qualifier in Athens in April.
Paddy Barnes, who has already qualified for the Olympics, will leave the Irish squad after Rome to compete in a Multi Nations tournament that begins in Croatia on 3 March.
