Unbeaten Irish middleweight Andy Lee claimed the vacant Irish super middleweight title and registered his 14th straight professional win after Jason McKay retired on his stool at the end of round six at the National Stadium in Dublin last Saturday night.
Co Down-born McKay, 30, was pouring scorn on the calibre of Lee’s opponents in the lead-up to the fight, but became just another statistic in the Limerick southpaw’s career after being floored by a right in the second.
Lee, who looked as if he was punishing McKay for questioning his heart before the fight, clearly took the first six rounds, consistently snapping his right into McKay’s head while keeping his left reserved for some devastating shots.
Twenty-three-year-old Lee, a right-handed southpaw, said after the fight that he was thrilled with the win.
“I’m delighted with the victory and to win my first professional title,” he said. “Next year is going to be a massive year for me and the important thing for me was to go into the New Year unbeaten.
“I wanted to show Jason and his manager that I had heart last night. It is one of the worst things you can say to a boxer, that he has no heart, and I think I proved a point last night.”
Lee, who boxes out of the Kronk in Detroit, had his legendary trainer and manager, Emanuel Stewart, his brother Roger, Javan Hill, and Joey Gamache in his corner at the National Stadium.
In results from the undercard, Colin Moffett stopped Eugene Heagney in the eighth round of a toe-to-toe thriller to win the vacant Irish bantamweight title.
Moffett hit Heagney – who beat him at the same venue in July – with a barrage of unanswered punches in the third last round before the referee stepped in to call a halt to proceedings.
THE Irish U19 boxing squad beat France 4–3 to win out a Four Nations round robin tournament which also featured England and Germany at Jackson’s Hotel in Ballybofey, Donegal last weekend.
Ireland went into the clash with France needing to win just three bouts, but claimed four to finish on top from the three-day international, which gloved off on Friday last.
The Irish squad, which featured eight Ulster boxers, hammered England 7–1 on Friday evening and followed that up with a 7–5 victory over the Germans 24 hours later.
That set up the battle with France, which was effectively a final as the French had also beaten the English and the Germans.
But the French had to accept second best after Con Sheehan, Tyrone McCullough, John Joe Nevin and stylish Belfast middleweight Thomas McCarthy all won their bouts.
The quartet of victories ensured that Ireland finished in pole position on 30 points, followed by France, Germany and England.
Commenting on the win, Dominic O’Rourke, the president of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA), was full of praise for the Irish squad.
He said: “The entire Irish squad performed magnificently here this weekend and it was a fantastic overall victory considering the quality of the English, German and French squads.
“The quality of this tournament was top class from start to finish, and I have no doubt that some of the boxers performing here will be the future stars of Irish amateur boxing.
In further amateur news, Irish coach Billy Walsh, a former Irish Olympian, believes that whoever wins the 2008 Irish senior middleweight title will qualify for next summer’s Olympics in Beijing.
Irish amateur boxing is bracing itself for the clash of the Two Darrens at the National Senior Champion-ships, which begin at the National Stadium on 8 January.
Darren Sutherland, from the St Saviour’s club in Dublin, is the reigning Irish middleweight champion, but Darren O’Neill, of the Paulstown club in Kilkenny, is breathing down his neck for the Irish 75kg vest.
Billy Walsh is predicting fireworks at the stadium in next month.
He said: “You could build the entire senior championships around Darren Sutherland and Darren O’Neill alone and if they meet next month it should be a top class fight.”
