It’s the famous anthem that has driven the legendary Munster Rugby team to glory on so many famous occasions at Thomond Park and now it’s Andy Lee’s turn to “Stand Up and Fight” in Limerick as he stars in the first ever professional boxing event in the sports mad city. Lee will headline the Ladbrokes.com Fight Night at the University Arena on Saturday, February 2nd and the unbeaten middleweight sensation is guaranteed a heroes welcome in his native city..
Stand Up and Fight – “Stand up and fight until you hear the bell,
Stand toe to toe, trade blow for blow,
Keep punching till you make your punches tell,
Show that crowd what you know!
Until you hear that bell, that final bell,
Stand up and fight like hell!”
Unbeaten in 14 straight professional fights the 23-year-old plans to kick off a busy 2008 in style and give his hometown fans plenty to cheer about.
Lee’s ultimate ambition is to bring the World Middleweight title back home to Limerick and his legendary American trainer Emanuel Steward believes it’s only a matter of time. A trainer of over 25 world champions Steward believes it’s only a matter of time before he will be able to add Lee to a list of champions that includes, Tommy Hearns, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Naseem Hamed and Oscar De La Hoya.
“Trust me Andy Lee is the future middleweight champion of the world”, predicted Steward. “In fact he’s the future of boxing. I truly believe that Andy will become a worldwide star and he will make the people of Limerick very proud of him.”
Lee knows there is a lot expected of him but the Castleconnell man is happy to take things one step at a time starting with his homecoming early next month.
“To headline the first ever professional boxing show in Limerick is something I’ve always wanted to do and I’m very excited about it. It’s great for myself and my family but I also think it will be good for Limerick as people will get to see just what a great city it is. The University Arena is such a great facility and I think it will be a special night there.
“I boxed there in the Four Nations Junior Championships as an amateur back in 2001 so it will be great to return there as a professional. I think it will also inject plenty of interest into the sport of boxing in Limerick and that can only be a good thing for the sport.”
The 2004 Olympian picked up his first title in the professional ranks last month taking the Irish Super Middleweight title in 6 rounds with a masterful display of precision punching against Jason McKay.
Having spent Christmas and the New Year celebrations with his family and friends in Limerick Andy will step up his preparations for next month’s bout from this weekend. Lee will return Stateside to start a three week training camp in Florida alongside current world heavyweight champ and sparring partner Wladimir Klitschko. However Lee won’t be enjoying the weather in the Sunshine State as it will be strictly business as he gets himself into peak condition for his Limerick date. Lee’s opponent for his 10 round middleweight contest will be named shortly.
Promoter Brian Peters says he’s delighted to be bringing professional boxing to Limerick. “Thanks to the likes of Andy, John Duddy and Bernard Dunne and the exposure they have received on RTÉ pro boxing has become very fashionable again and it’s great now that we can bring these events around the country.
“The University Arena is a fantastic venue and with Limerick being such a sports mad county I’m sure Andy will have tremendous support there next month. Hopefully this will be just the first of many fights in Limerick for Andy and who’s to say he won’t defend a world title in the city at some point in the future. That would be something special to look forward to.”
The undercard for the University Arena bill will feature two more of Ireland’s rising stars witht European title contenders Paul McCloskey and Matthew Macklin both in action.
McCloskey is fresh from a fourth round demolition of Olympic Silver medallist and former European Champion, Tontcho Tontchev in Belfast last month and he’s looking to build on that in 2008. Like Lee the Derry stylist is a southpaw and he has also racked up 14 straight wins in the pro ranks. McCloskey hopes that this is the year which will see him pick up a European title and based on his recent performances it would be hard to bet against him.
Middleweight Matthew Macklin has been equally impressive of late. The one time Tipperary Under 21 hurler is also on the European title trail and like his friend and training partner Ricky Hatton he is a lethal body puncher.
Two other men on the card will also be familiar to Andy Lee fans. Jason McKay will look to bounce back from last months defeat to Andy with a win while current Irish light middleweight champion Ciaran Healy also knows about Lee’s punching prowess after the Limerick man stopped him in 4 rounds when they met in Dublin last August.
Tickets for the Ladrokes.com Fight Night priced from €60 go on sale from 9am tomorrow morning (Friday, January 4th) from Ticketmaster.ie and all usual outlets.