Brian Vera inflicted the Castleconnell man’s only defeat in his 25-bout professional boxing career back in March 2008, but the Limerick middleweight has regrouped to win nine successive fights since that shock reversal.
But if a long-awaited rematch is to take place Lee will have to record another victory on December 11 when he fights on the undercard of the Waldimir Klitschko and Derek Chisora heavyweight world title fight at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany.
Currently ranked number nine in the WBA world rankings Lee’s opponent for next month’s fight is yet to be confirmed.
The former St. Francis Boxing Club Olympian flew to Austria on Sunday to train with Klitschko ahead of their December fights.
“This is my fifth fight this year and no better stage for a boxer than a 20,000-seater stadium in Germany on the undercard of IBF, WBO and WBO Heavyweight World Champion, Waldimir Klitschko,” said Lee.
“Waldimir is a great role model for me. I learn so much from him and I thoroughly enjoy the experience of being in camp with him and Emanuel (Steward). It is nice to end the 2010 year off on a fight card like this,” said the Limerick man.
The Kronk fighter has been training hard for the past month at the Kronk Gym in Detroit along with his 22-year-old cousin, Tyson Fury - the current English heavyweight champion.
And, Andy Lee’s manager Emanuel Steward remains confident that the 26-year-old southpaw can be a world champion.
“I believe Andy is not just the best Irish middleweight in the world today, but also the most talented contender emerging and moving up the world rankings. The middleweight division is wide open at this time and Andy is in pole position to capitalize on this situation in 2011,” said Steward.
“Andy will be fighting on December 11. This will be Andy’s fifth time fighting on the undercard of a Waldimir Klitschko heavyweight world title championship fight. These occasions give Andy great exposure with the world media and boxing fraternity present, it provides an international dimension to Andy’s boxing profile. It is also is part of my management strategy to have Andy box on both sides of the Atlantic to reach out to his fan base and have his fights televised by different tv networks,” explained Steward over the weekend.
If Andy Lee does win in Germany next month his rematch against Vera could take place on February 4.
It has already been suggested that the fight would take place on the ESPN2 ‘Friday Night Fights’ card on Super Bowl weekend. The 2011 Super Bowl will take place at the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas and the Lee fight would take place in the nearby Fort Worth.
JEROME O’CONNELL
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