TRAINER ADAM BOOTH insists he will not rush Andy Lee into making a call on his future ring career.
Lee’s gym-mate Ryan Burnett will headline a hometown bill when he challenges Lee Hasinks for the IBF world bantamweight title at the SSE Odyssey Arena on 10 June. However, that Belfast fight date will come too soon for the Limerick middleweight’s potential ring return as his wife is expecting the couple’s first child this summer.
The former world champion Lee has claimed that he is keen to continue his fighting career in an effort to build towards another title shot against leading middleweight Gennady Golovkin, but Booth has not set a date for the 32-year-old to return to training as family matters take priority.
“I’m not going to think about it. If it happens, I know we’ll figure it out,” said Booth on Lee’s potential return later this year. “Once the baby’s born and things settle down then we’ll have that conversation and we’ll figure it out.
“It’s his first child and that’s going to be more important than anything in his life that’s ever happened before. I’m not going to start saying, ‘go and do a five-week camp’,” added the trainer, who worked Lee’s corner for his comeback on St Patrick’s weekend after a 16-month break from the ring.
Lee’s March points victory over Alabama’s KeAndrae Leatherwood in New York marked the Irishman’s first bout since December 2015 loss of his WBO world title to England’s Billy Joe Saunders, who has subsequently become a gym-mate under Booth.
“He was very disappointed with the Billy Joe loss, so it was nice to come back with a win,” said Booth. “It was a nice workout at Madison Square Garden to go into the summer before his new baby arrives, so we’ll worry about it [his return] after.
He’s still only 32, he has a wealth of experience and he’s still healthy so we’ll let him enjoy his life first and worry about it [fighting] after.”
The 10 JuneBelfast bill will feature domestic talent in the form of Burnett, Irish super-featherweight champion James Tennyson and fellow Belfast prospect Paul Hyland Jr.
However, Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn will not install Katie Taylor on the card as she builds towards a homecoming world-title shot in Dublin later this year.
“I just feel to bring Katie to Ireland for the first time as a pro on an undercard [is not ideal]… We want to come here in October or November with a world-title fight for her,” explained Hearn, who is set to book a US fight date for Taylor in the coming weeks.
The promoter claimed that a successful homecoming bill for the former Olympic champion could lead to more regular Irish fight dates in the future.
“I’d like to see her box three or four times a year, defending world championships and boxing in England, Dublin, America and maybe even Germany or Scandinavia as well,” said Hearn, who praised Taylor win over Nina Meinke on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight battle with Wladimir Klitschko last weekend.
“At Wembley, there was only probably 30-40,000 in the crowd when she boxed, but she still got the best [undercard] reception of the night.
“And at the weigh-in, she got the best reception outside of Joshua and Klitschko, so I feel like she’s building momentum,” said the Matchroom boss.
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