By Lem Satterfield

Sure he had a 16-0 amateur record that included 10 knockouts. And he may have won a Chicago Golden Gloves crown.
 
But come on. No professional boxer -- no really tough one, at least -- graduates from Notre Dame with a 3.8 average and can bring it as a professional.
 
At leas no one, says Top Rank Promoter, Bob Arum, except for debuting light heavyweight (175 pounds) prospect, Mike Lee, of Chicago.
 
"Mike Lee is a great example of the graduates who Notre Dame produces. We at Top Rank hope we can fulfill Mike's ambitions as a professional boxer," said Arum. "We know Mike will enhance the sport of boxing and we look forward to promoting his professional career."
 
But Lee has heard the whispers questioning his abilities from the very first day he stepped into a Chicago gym, let alone tha of Notre Dame after transferring from the University of Missouri following his freshman year.
 
"That's a general feeling that I got, mostly when I first started fighting and started getting into it. You would always hear people who would assume that I was soft. I'm a quiet guy, and if they see me come into the gym, I'm an unassuming guy if you look at me," said Lee.
 
"I don't have any one, single anecdote, or anything like that. But I definitely heard people being skeptics and questioning my desire in doing this," said Lee.
 
"But anybody who gets in there and spars with me or anybody who watches me train is going to know that I want to be a world champion," said Lee. "That's the only reason that I'm doing this. I love the sport, and I just have a passion for the sport and nothing else."
 
And while at Notre Dame, the 22-year-old began to prove it. Lee became a three-time Bengal Bouts champion, which raises money for the people of Bangladesh.
 
"Going to Bangladesh and witnessing the simple things we take for granted, like running water and a clean place to sleep, are not so simple for the natives in Bangladesh. And that forever changed my view on life," said Lee.
 
"The Bengal Bouts and Notre Dame opened my eyes to another world. I may have left Notre Dame, but Notre Dame will never leave me. That is why it is very important to give back and help fund the Holy Cross Missions of Bangladesh.”
 
Inside the ring, Lee often gave better than he received.
 
"Say you're at a gym in the suburbs, and I'm a kid with a college education from Notre Dame. Sometimes, I can be taken lightly in the gym, or maybe I don't get the initial respect that I deserve. But they see the results of when I get into the ring and I spar and I show people my skills," said Lee.
 
"Mostly, it's my determination. When they see that, all of that other stuff goes out of the window. That's how I feel about any body else that I spar in the gym with," said Lee. "If I find somebody who respects me and who has that kind of determination and will, then, we all become equals."
 
Except when Lee unleashes that particularly powerfully penchant for paralyzing punches to the body.
 
"I think that my power is it. Sometimes power is something that can't be taught. I've been told that I have a lot of potential power. Throughout the amateurs, I had a lot of knockouts. Even what started to get more respect in the gym is that they could feel my power and I always went to the body a lot," said Lee.
 
"So in terms of my style, I always had somewhat more of a professional style. To the point where my amateur fights and genearally my sparring, whether it be in Chicago or Easton," said Lee. "I loved to go to the body. I always had heavy hands. That's something that I've always hear about my style."
 
Lee said that trainer, Ronnie Shields, is working on having him fight a more even fight rather than simply to go for the knockout.
 
"Right now, Ronnie Shields is trying to teach me so much more knowing that I have heavy hands. So we know that I have that in my pocket. I don't need to go out there and try to kill people or try to muscle through punches now," said Lee.
 
"It's one of those things that we want to go and work out and work on my weaknesses. One of my strengths, if not my best attributes is my heavy hands. I was dropping guys in sparring sessions early in my career not even knowing my power."
 
Lee will try to take out 29-year-old Keith Debow (0-1) at Chicago's UIC Pavillion on Saturday night in his professional debut, even as he has yet to earn a nickname.
 
What is Lee's timetable on becoming a world champion?
 
"I think that I'm 22. If I was 28, it would be a different story in terms of rushing my career. I'm in no hurry, Ronnie's in no hurry, and Top Rank is in no hurry to rush my career. They want to build their fighters. And they told me, when we sat down and I signed with Top Rank, they said that 'We build our fighters.'" said Lee.
 
"They built Miguel Cotto, they built Kelly Pavlik up. I'm not going to be fighting someone who is 22-1 right away. Being with a promotional company like Top Rank makes me really comfortable. Because they're going to have me face guys who are only making me better," said Lee.
 
"They're going to have me facing tall guys, short guys, righties, lefties in the beginning of my career. They're going to basically getting me ready to climb the ranks," said Lee. "They're the best at it. I feel lucky and very humble that Top Rank saw my talent and saw what I was about and wanted to work with me because I feel like I'm in really good hands with them."