Lee claims Irish victory over French foe

Headlining in his Limerick home town, Andy Lee left more questions than answers when defeating Affif Belghecham over ten rounds – the 99-92 scorecard failed to tell the whole story. For the most part, Lee jabbed and moved effectively, using his stinging hooks and spiteful counters to help keep the extremely negative visitor under wraps for long spells. The tale took a dramatic twist in the final two sessions when Belghecham finally opened up and found Andy unnervingly easy to hit, prompting the question - Why didn’t he start throwing sooner?

Lee (11st 8llb) worked the only parts of Belghecham’s body that weren’t protected by his high guard, early in the first round, as both southpaws locked horns in centre ring. The tentative French-Algerian (living in Lyon) allocated full control to Lee, while absorbing uppercuts and right hooks; conceding the first three rounds with scant reply. Karim Harouz –head trainer in the away corner- injected some urgency into his charge before the fourth round began, while Emile Tiedt read the riot act to them for remaining in the ring too long between sessions. Affif’s accuracy was improving as he backed Lee up, but his economical approach was failing to claim points on my card. Hurt with a body shot and backed to the ropes in the fifth, the crowd smelled blood as Belghecham (11st 6 ½ llb) sought respite – some sensed a stoppage, but this man was made of sterner stuff.

By the sixth it was obvious that when he threw leather Belghecham could have moderate success but still he allowed Lee to turn him with hooks and move out of range. A solid left in the seventh was a pre-cursor of what was to come as Andy put more meat into the shots and again rocked the Frenchman. Lee was content to diffuse the threat while racking up the points, but soon into the ninth round Belghecham turned the bout on its head, landing the straight left and staggering Lee, who lurched onto the ropes. Andy smiled but was alarmingly easy to hit and he had resorted to using the ring’s circumference in the final round as the EU champion (title not on the line) stalked for a shock finisher. What Brian Vera achieved, in Lee’s sole pro loss, Belghecham could not, despite hurting Lee and forcing him to hold desperately. A routine win was suddenly in doubt, with the 24-year-old’s broomstick jab missing and trainer Joey Gamache looked on nervously in the home corner.

The Limerick crowd pleaser soaked up the admiration post-fight while a rueful Belghecham was left to ponder on what might have been. I scored it 98-92 with the last two clearly in the away fighter’s favour and all other rounds to Lee; referee Tiedt presumably marked the ninth even, with the tenth a certainty for Belghecham.

European champion Matthew Macklin was present at ringside and the speculation mounted on a Lee-Macklin showdown. Unless Lee’s defensive capabilities dramatically improve, there appears to be only one winner of that fight.

“I couldn’t get into a rhythm because of Belghecham’s cagey shell-like approach,” admitted Lee in the post-fight press conference. “I lost my concentration a bit in the eighth round when I had the fight in the bag, but I see it as a job well done and after a great training camp I was pleased with everything.

“I made it an easy fight, boxed to my strengths and used the jab. He starts slow and opens up as the fight goes on he comes on strong; in the last round he caught me with a good shot but I was never in any major trouble.”

Andy also fielded questions about his new trainer Joey Gamache, as the Emmanuel Steward partnership appears to have come to an end: “Detroit is a tough city so moving to New York is good for me and I’ve linked up with Joey [Gamache] and things are going well. The gym competition in America is fantastic and I’ve been sparring Carlos Quintana and Victor Paz in 14 foot rings, which makes for wars that are tougher than actual fights.”

So what about the proposed Macklin bout?

“A fight with Macklin would be great and there’s no bad blood but it’s a natural fight for Ireland,” Lee added. “There are a lot of possibilities too in Europe with Sylvester, Zbik and Sturm, so the middleweight scene, outside of Kelly Pavlik, is open for me. It would be hard to come back from a loss to Macklin but the risk has to meet the reward. We both shook hands and said we should get in sometime.”

Promoter Brian Peters weighed-in with his opinions: “Ideally a Macklin-Lee fight would be for the world title but Macklin has two fights left with Hatton Promotions and he has to accommodate Dmitriy Pirog next year as a mandatory.

“Brian Vera was our first choice for tonight but he said no and John Duddy was next choice but he’s going in a different direction completely. It’s inevitable that all these guys will meet at some point – they’re potentially huge fights for Ireland.”

In an undercard that contained more honest endeavour than true quality, Jamie Power delighted his fans when posting a fifth round knockout over Aleksandrs Dunecs. Power rumbled forward with his trademark hooks to head and body and things heated up in the second as Dunecs grimaced following an apparent head clash, holding his head as blood splattered from a lacerated left eye. The Latvian claimed an elbow but referee David Irving did not concur, waving them back in after a momentary breather and Power was soon back on the offensive. Jamie sported a welt under his own left eye and looked a little sluggish, missing wildly with telegraphed combinations.

Dunecs was no great shakes himself and was content to try and see out the storm. After a left hook to the body finally sent Aleksandrs to the canvas, Power piled it on and the away man did well to survive to the end of the round. In the fifth Power picked his best punch of the night, when a badly sagging Dunecs offered his open body to a crunching left hand and he was down and out. Mr. Irving called a halt with 42 seconds of the round gone – cue celebrations, as Power paraded the ring in a Limerick Gaelic football shirt, much to the delight of his supporters’. He got the win but will need to improve if title shots come to fruition.

Featured in the BoxRec News build-up, Willie Casey ‘Big Bang’ Casey was the second local hero to send the fans home happy as he pounded winless Michael O’Gara into submission in the sixth and final round. The Middlesbrough man (9st) was game and came to fight but ended with two horrifically swollen eyes and I could not see the point sending Michael out for the last round after a torrid fifth. Willie (9st 4llb) a livewire southpaw showed the benefits of his amateur career, using the ring and plenty of room to fire off jabs and straight lefts, keeping O’Gara at bay. Patient Casey was unravelling O’Gara by the third as smooth right hooks rocked the head back and forth.

Contrary to so many of his contemporaries on the night, Casey didn’t fall in and smother his work, opting instead to slash his punches from range and cut Michael over the left eye in the fourth. Also bleeding from the nostrils, O’Gara cut Casey on the forehead but suffered from his corner’s inability to stymie the worsening cut. A toe-to-toe fifth saw referee Emile Tiedt hovering as the stoppage loomed and even though O’Gara survived that onslaught he was bouncing from rope to rope in the final session before Tiedt belatedly dived in. The proud Englishman was irate but it could have been halted earlier as he took plenty of punishment and was unlikely to have fought again in the near future regardless of any suspension, such was the severity of his injuries. Casey, meanwhile, was all smiles at the end and the 27-year-old had got plenty of people at ringside making a note of his name. The end came 37 seconds into the round.

Canadian TV may have been following Matt O’Brien, but the import failed to make many new fans following a lacklustre 58-57 win, on David Irving’s card, over the limited Jean Kamdoum. I had the same margin, but in Kamdoum’s favour, which highlighted the technical restrictions of O’Brien, who had not fought in some 18 months. A rigid stance, devoid of any upper body movement hindered the Canadian, as Kamdoum (11st 11llb) whaled away with wild hooks from an elastic waistline. The game African had caused a nosebleed early on as O’Brien (11st 12 ¼ llb) forced every punch, his upright position making it near impossible to launch any fluid attacks. Matt was slightly improved in the third as he appeared to have shaken off the ring rust, while both men made frequent trips to the canvas from slips and wrestling.

Untidy O’Brien walked into some Hail Marys from his counterpart as both laid it on the line for the final session. Playing on his loose Irish connections (a Cork grandfather was the official word) Matt was rallied by the crowd for a big finish, but it never came, as Kamdoum found a second wind. Plenty of enterprise but little class resulted in a scrappy affair, in which neither man emerged with any great deal of credit to their name. Kamdoum was flummoxed by the decision (which conceivably could have gone either way) and it will likely be O’Brien’s last visit to these shores.

Ballyhaunis light-heavyweight John Waldron is looking to muscle in on the domestic belts and a fight with either Jamie Power or Michael Sweeney could be in the pipeline. John improved his record to 4-2 with a never-easy 6x3s points win over game Eastern-European Martins Kukuls. I had it 59-56 to Waldron whilst Emile Tiedt had it a surprisingly narrow 58-57 as the wagon keeps rolling – John is now starting to turn his career around after some early setbacks. Working behind a good left jab and some notable body work Waldron (12st 5 ¼ llb) aimed to put Kukuls (12st 4llb) in his place immediately but the import had not read the script and retorted with some spiteful left hooks. John looked sorry for himself in the second and his lowering left hand was offering a home for Kukuls’ right hook.

The Latvian put everything into his left hooks that continued to land, only he was tiring by the third round and that was when Waldron began to take over. He went about his work diligently as Martins resorted to covering up and taking extended breathers. A solid right in the fifth sent sweat spraying from the forehead of this tough guy, as Waldron cemented his authority. Both men tired late-on and it was a commendable display of boxing as Kukuls rallied to claim a share of the final stanza. This was all about keeping busy and Waldron will be all the better for more experience.

Now fighting off an Irish license, Lee Murtagh appeared in a tune-up for an Irish super-middleweight title duel with Anthony Fitzgerald on next month’s Matthew Macklin showcase fight in Dublin. Southpaw Murtagh comfortably negated any ambition Marcel Gierke may have possessed, although that elusive stoppage win continues to elude the light-hitting Leeds man. Lee brought plenty of vocal support with him and they offered advice (not all of it completely sound) from ringside for the duration of this six round contest. Gierke’s face seemed to be swelling even before he entered the ring and Murtagh (11st 5llb) had too much ability for his international foe, popping right jabs and left hands through the guard.

Fleshy Marcen (11st 4llb) bled from the nose yet gave his all in the second but could not unnerve the sometime fragile 36-year-old, who folded against Ciaran Healy for the Irish light-middleweight title two years ago. Former world level operator Sean Mannion and undefeated Mayo man Michael Sweeney patrolled the Murtagh corner as stubborn Gierke refused to crumble under pressure. Murtagh did enough throughout to control any ambition his opponent might have and a straight left on the bell underlined his dominance. Referee David Irving must have invented some Gierke attacks as he awarded Murtagh a 59-55 win; I saw every round to the home fighter.

Sidenotes: Promoter Brian Peters admitted it wasn’t one of the strongest undercard’s he had ever put on but was impressed by the Yanjing beer connection that saw Chinese food vans lined-up outside the University Sports Arena. RTE2 televised after the Ireland-France football match and Mike Goodall handled MC duties.

Driving from Belfast to Limerick in one go (4 ½ hours each way) is not advisable but my counterpart Cormac Campbell and I managed it; returning home at 6am Sunday morning. We now await an Andy Lee-Matthew Macklin fight and keep an eye out for a Macklin interview coming shortly.