McKay confident ahead of Lee bout

Banbridge fighter Jason McKay has vowed to ask "serious questions" of Andy Lee in Saturday's Irish super-middleweight title fight in Dublin. McKay is the Irish light-heavyweight champion but is delighted to move down in weight to tackle unbeaten Lee. "With the greatest of respect to some of his opponents they weren't there to win," said McKay, who has lost only one of his 19 professional bouts. Saturday's bout will take place at the National Stadium. McKay says the fight offers him a great opportunity to take a major step forward in his career. "I've been looking for a big fight like this for ages," added. "There was talk of me maybe fighting John Duddy at one point and then I was matched with Matthew Macklin for the Irish title but that fell through as well. "Now I have the Lee fight and it's a big chance for me."

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During his amateur career, McKay defeated John Duddy in the Ulster Championships. Lee won a European Amateur Championship bronze medal in 2004 and also competed in the Olympic Games in Athens in the same year. However, McKay insists that the Limerick man has yet to be tested in the pro ranks. "Andy was a brilliant amateur. You only need to look at the medals he won to see that. "But the pro game is very, very different and I believe this is the first time he'll have a really ambitious opponent in the opposite corner." Lee's victims include a former world champion Carl Daniels but McKay was not overly impressed by that win. "When Carl Daniels was in his prime Andy was still in diapers," added McKay. The County Down man also has a strong argument for claiming that he too should still have a perfect record.

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His sole blemish came in November of 2004 when he was on the wrong end of a controversial points decision to Paul Buchanan. In the build-up to this weekend's fight, McKay has sparred with Howard Eastman and Brian Magee. Lee acknowledges that McKay should present him with a tough test. "I've seen Jason a couple of time and he's very solid," said Lee. "He does all the fundamentals very well so it has the makings of a great fight. "I think it will probably be the hardest fight of my career to date because I'm meeting a guy who's in his prime and like he says he'll be in there to win the title." The bill also sees Eugene Heagney and Colin Moffett clashing for the Irish bantamweight title in a re-match of their July contest when Heagney edged a tight verdict.