Fresh start with an eye on the brawl

HOME AND AWAY - ANDY LEE: Gavin Cummiskeyhears from the classy middleweight about rolling with the punches and getting back on track for a world title

Andy Lee is the best prospect in the world. Right now he's the best middleweight in the world. He can beat Kelly Pavlik right now. - Emanuel Steward, Jan 2008

EVEN THE great boxing guru accepts the above was heaping premature praise on Andy Lee's young shoulders.

Last April Lee was due to fight in Madison Square Garden, live on HBO. Unfortunately neither he nor Steward figured upon the Ides of March and a journeyman middleweight having the fight of his life; Brian Vera dragged the Limerickman into a brawl that ensured any talk of a title shot with the fearsome Pavlik went up in smoke.

It followed a familiar trend.

Dubliner Bernard Dunne was knocked out last year - losing his European title. Fellow middleweight John Duddy was being primed as Pavlik's next opponent but legendary promoter Bob Arum shelved that notion after seeing the Derryman cut to shreds when struggling past another journeyman called Walid Smichet.

Irish boxing had been widely trumpeted Stateside as a renewed talent source. They are looking elsewhere now.

The sweet science, as ever, continues to evolve and reinvent itself. In his second bout since Kiko Martinez stunned The Point 10 months back, Dunne fought last Saturday in the less salubrious confines of the National Stadium. Duddy remains undefeated but has dropped down to light middleweight and the 29-year-old will finally get a world title fight against Verno Phillips.

Lee's record is now 15-1. The Athens Olympian is still only 24. Nobody, not even Andy himself, disputes the folly of getting into the trenches with Vera, but it should be noted he was still throwing and landing punches when referee Tony Chiarantano stepped between the two men at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.

It is worth viewing at www.youtube.com/watch?v=kguLYJDt5RQ

The ringside commentator recalls, as Lee begins to lose control, the time Steward's best ever fighter, Tommy "The Hitman" Hearns, got hurt for the first time.

In the early days Hearns also lacked the ability to tie up an opponent. This should not be taken as a slight on the master trainer. It was just an observation as a hugely talented young fighter received a bitter lesson.

"Yeah, I landed the last punch of the fight but still lost," says Lee. "It was my fault for letting the fight get to that point. He caught me with some good shots. I see it as a maturity thing now. I should have been mature enough not to retaliate. Not to get drawn into a brawl. I have always boxed, all through my career."

But not that night.

Because he has never gone past eight rounds, his conditioning was inevitably questioned. Though he put Vera on the canvas in the first round, Lee's arms were by his hips, the shoulders of his 6ft 2in frame hunched, when it was ended in the seventh.

"It was a hard fight, fought at a hard pace," he admits. "I've never gone the distance but I've done it in the gym plenty of times. He was a strong guy. I don't want to be making excuses as it would take away from his victory.

"158 pounds is the lightest I've ever been and I could feel the difference. He was stronger and is probably a natural super-middleweight and was walking through my punches. I hit him off balance plenty of times and did hurt him but not enough."

Despite the defeat, Lee remains an integral part of Steward's stable (he even lives with the man in Detroit) and landed in Shannon last Sunday ahead of the first fight of the rest of his career, against the American Willie Gibbs at the University of Limerick this Saturday. All courtesy of Brian Peters Promotions, of course.

Steward had been concentrating on the world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and the cruiserweight Jonathan Banks, who both fought in Germany on Saturday. For a change, the training camp had been the Austrian Alps and not the Kronk gym in Detroit.

Anyway, Lee is now back in the familiar surrounds of Castleconnell, where the Lee family settled in 1988 after many years based in the East End of London, where Andy was born.

He first came to national prominence as the best Irish medal hope at the last Olympics but a narrow defeat to Hassan Ndam Njikam of Cameroon ended his dream.

As with that upset, Lee is keenly aware of the best medication for his current situation.

"Yeah, the best thing I can do is get back in the ring. Willie Gibbs was matched by Emanuel. Most people would have forgiven me for taking an easy fight. But what would I take from such a victory? By taking this type of fight there is a chance you could lose but a win would put me back up where I was before."

Gibbs (32) once held a proud record - he has had 23 professional fights (16 knockouts) - but has lost three of his last six bouts dating back to 2004.

"Things had been moving too fast before the Vera fight," says Lee. "I would have a fight, a week off and then back in the gym for three weeks to prepare for my next fight. I was getting cut and not giving it time to heal. I was cut up again too easily against Brian Vera. No one was stopping to check or correct my mistakes - me included. Because I was winning we kept moving forward and my faults were not being highlighted.

"I know people will dismiss me now that I have lost. I have talked with Manny a lot about it. There is no need for drastic changes. The real reason I lost was complacency. It kills me to admit it."

Redemption comes in small steps and at least, with Lee, the first step comes in his home town, in front of his own people.

"I'm still on course for my main goal, which is to become the middleweight champion of the world. I need to put Gibbs away early. After that? Another three or four fights and I'm a contender again. No one is more determined than me to achieve that aim."