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Fight Club

Last-gasp Lee not ready for Martinez shot

Promoter advises Limerick fighter to bide his time after tenth-round victory over Craig McEwan.

ANDY LEE MAY have come from the dead to score a late victory over Craig McEwan on Saturday night, but the manner of his victory has only highlighted the gulf in class which exists at the top of boxing’s middleweight division.

With Sergio Martinez, Lee’s expected next opponent, dominating in his title defense against Sergiy Dzinzurik in the evening’s main event, it now looks likely that the Irishman will have to sharpen his skills against a different opponent before taking his shot at the champ.

The Limerick man disappointed for most of Saturday night’s “Celtic War” against his Scottish opponent, leaving himself in a position where it seemed that only a last-round knock-out would enough to salvage victory from the jaws of defeat.

After eight rounds, McEwan led on all three of the judge’s scorecards –  77-75, 77-75 and 78-74. However, the Irishman dominated the ninth round, scoring an important knockdown with thirty seconds left on the clock.

Lee’s dominance in that penultimate round allowed him to draw level on two scorecards, giving him every chance of winning a narrow split decision if he could hold his own in the last. It doesn’t seem that Lee’s corner communicated that to him as the 26-year-old came out all guns blazing, hammering McEwan for the opening 55 seconds of the round before flooring him with a vicious left hook.

With the Scot out cold on the canvas, referee Steve Smoger stepped in to stop the action, awarding Lee an important victory.

Speaking after the fight, Lee conceded that he hadn’t been at his best though was proud that he had dug deep to pull out a victory.

Overall I’m not happy with the performance.

In the middle rounds it looked like I was losing the fight and I said to myself, ‘what are you doing? — this is my night and it’s a big opportunity’. I said ‘right, if I’m going to lose this fight he’s going to have to kill me’.

Even though it wasn’t my best performance, I showed a lot of heart.

Promoter Lou DiBella largely agreed with Lee’s asseement, accepting that he had a lot to be proud of. Though Lee’s victory hadn’t been as emphatic as hoped for, the most important thing was that he remained on HBO’s radar, said DiBella.

Although DiBella had promised Lee that victory would earmark him as number one contender for a shot against Martinez, the promoter was reluctant to allow Lee and his camp to rush into the matter.

Sergio won’t be Andy’s next fight, but his performance against McEwan did establish Andy as an HBO attraction, which is the best thing for him right now.

Read more of Lee’s post-fight comments in today’s Irish Times and Irish Independent >