Andy Lee First Title Defense Due To Come In March

By Terence Dooley 

“Irish” Andy Lee will make the first defense of his WBO middleweight title in Ireland in March. However, the 30-year-old southpaw is waiting to nail down both a date and venue for his maiden defense.  

Earlier reports stated that a fight against Denmark’s Patrick Nielsen, 23-1 (11), has been secured and his mandatory fight against Hatfield’s Billy Joe Saunders will take place later this year, but BoxingScene.com understands that the Nielsen fight has not been signed and his opponent is still TBA as things stand. 

Lee won the belt by stopping Matt Korobov in six rounds at The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas in December.  The Limerick-based southpaw handed the Russian portsider his first defeat to move to 34-2 (24).  There was talk of an immediate defence against Saunders, who beat Chris Eubank Junior in a final eliminator, but Lee also hankered after a quick fire St. Patrick’s Day homecoming defence—he could get his wish if he can secure either the 14th or 21st of March and find a suitable opponent.

The Korobov win capped a remarkable 2014 for Lee, he struggled to find his form when beating Frank Haroche Horta in April only to blast out John Jackson, son of Julius, in the fifth round at Madison Square Garden in June before being handed the Korobov opportunity. 

Adam Booth, Lee’s trainer, also guided Curtis Woodhouse to a British light-welterweight title win over Darren Hamilton in February before topping the year with the world title triumph.  “What Curtis did with Darren, and what Andy did with Korobov, is very similar—they both had complete belief, it’s like they were in a trance,” said Booth when speaking to me about his 2014 highlights.

A latecomer to the world title scene, Lee will be keen to get the first defence of his title under his belt.  The long dormant 160lb division—one of boxing’s classic weight categories—has started to come alive again due to the emergence of Gennady Golovkin and his busy schedule, Lee’s decision to get right back into it will further enliven the middleweight scene as we move into 2015.