BOXING NEWS: ALTHOUGH AFFIF Belghechem holds both the French and European Union middleweight titles, neither championship will be up for grabs when he faces Andy Lee at the Limerick University sports arena tonight, a circumstance which has less to do with the fact that Lee is not French than that neither, at least on this evening, will actually be a middleweight.
Seeking to protect his EU title, Belghechem had requested a two-pound contractual leeway, and when the boxers weighed in at the George Hotel in downtown Limerick yesterday, the Frenchman scaled in at 160 1/2, half a pound over the divisional limit, while Lee weighed 162.
The size discrepancy between the two was even more apparent when they stepped off the scale and struck a pose for the photographers: the top of Belghechem’s head barely reached Lee’s ears.
The non-title status of the bout seemed to be of scant concern to Lee. While it sounds impressive, the EU is relatively inconsequential alongside, say, Matthew Macklin’s European championship.
On the other hand, Belghechem is rated marginally ahead of Lee in both the European and World rankings, and the Limerick boxer could leapfrog past him in both with a win in the main event of Brian Peters’s six-bout card.
Belghechem is from Feyzin in the Rhone district but, like one of his distinguished predecessors, Marcel Cerdan, is of Algerian heritage. His overall record of 19-3-1 is somewhat misleading, in that two of the losses, as well as the draw, came relatively early in his professional career.
He has lost just once in the past half-dozen years, and that, ironically, was a points decision in Paris last year to Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam – the man who, representing Cameroon, had eliminated Lee in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
The 25 year-old Lee, seeking his 20th professional victory against just one defeat, is looking to put himself back in the title picture with a win tonight.
Two years ago Lee appeared to be a fight or two away from a challenge to world champion Kelly Pavlik when he was upset by Brian Vera at the Mohegan Sun casino. His progress back to the top has been somewhat retarded by recurring problems with cuts, but he hopes he has put all that behind him.
Tonight’s bout will in another sense represent uncharted waters for Lee.
Titular manager Emanuel Steward, who has trained him for all of his previous fights, will be in Las Vegas tonight, working as a ringside commentator for HBO. Lee trained, and did all of his sparring for tonight’s bout, in New York under the supervision of former WBA lightweight champion Joey Gamache, who will be in charge of the Lee corner tonight.
Two other hometown boxers will be showcased on this evening’s card: light-heavyweight Jamie Powers, Lee’s team-mate at St Francis Boxing Club, will be looking to rebound from his September TKO loss to Michael Sweeney at Dublin’s 02 in a scheduled eight-rounder against Aleksandrs Dunecs, while featherweight Willie Casey guns for his third win as a pro in his six-round contest against Yorkshireman Michael O’Gara.
Emil Tiedt, who has been the referee for Lee’s previous five pro bout in Ireland, will be the third man in the ring again tonight.
The Lee-Belghechem starting time – and the RTÉ 2 telecast – have been pegged to the wind-up of the other Ireland-France clash taking place at Croke Park earlier in the evening.
