Emanuel steward on andy lee8/18/2023 “It’s was a very, very hard loss to take, especially when I’d been touted so highly. “I was underprepared and overconfident and came unstuck against a tough, tough man,” he admitted. However, Lee’s world title precession was abruptly halted when he was stopped in seven-rounds by Brian Vera in March 2008. Lee put what he learnt into practice notably scored a highlight reel knockout against the vastly more experienced former junior lightweight titlist Carl Daniels early in his career. By being with him you learn how to conduct yourself.” Back in those days, I’d go with him whenever he had HBO gigs which was nearly every weekend or every second weekend. “I lived with Emanuel the whole time I was there,” he said. Lee, who had lost a handful of fights out of roughly 80 amateur fights, made his debut at the famed Joe Louis Arena, Detroit with a six-round unanimous decision over Anthony Cannon in March 2006. When I went over there for a visit and trial run and knew that was where I needed to be.” I could have stayed in that system and been quite comfortable but it’s Emanuel Steward, it’s the Kronk gym. “There was incentives, guaranteed funding, some education, college courses and sponsored cars, I think it was €80,000 Euros a year tax-free (A similar amount in Dollars.) It was a lot of money. “It was a nice offer to stay amateur,” he explained. It was a very close fight.”Īfter returning home, Lee was presented with a lucrative offer from the Irish Sports Council to stay amateur until after the 2008 Olympics. I fought Alfredo Angulo and in the second fight I fought Hassan N’dam and lost on the countback. “In my mind I put it on a pedestal and when I was there, I was quite disappointed with the whole thing. “Really, the Olympics is just like every other boxing tournament in the world. “I had built it up and everything is going to be fine when I get to the Olympics,” he said. He claimed bronze at the European Championships in 2004 and was the only representative on the Irish team at the 2004 Olympics. Lee lost to eventual gold medalist and future Hall of Famer Gennadiy Golovkin at the World Championships in Bangkok in 2003. I had told him I was going to try to stay amateur and qualify for the Olympics.”Īndy Lee (right) lands a straight right on Peter Quillin (left) Photo by Naoki Fukuda “I had beaten a guy called Jesus Gonzalez, who was sponsored by Emanuel Steward,” he recalled. It proved to be the correct one, Lee was a three-time Irish national champion and claimed silver at the World Youth championships in Cuba in 2002. ![]() ![]() I remember the day I made my decision to dedicate myself to boxing.” I realized I loved boxing and was very good at it. ![]() I could have continued on the travelling life path, most travelling boys are very good under age boxers but very few follow it through to senior level. “When we moved to Ireland when I was 14, those years were formative years. “They had moved to London in the 1970s when work and things weren’t that good in Ireland. “That was always the plan,” he explained. Lee boxed out of the well-known Repton boxing club and won two national titles before the family moved back to live in Limerick, Ireland.
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