‘They can’t keep ignoring me’
“He’s a dangerous fella, I’ll have to watch him and check him out for a few rounds”. The pre fight thoughts of Limerick’s southpaw and Irish number one middleweight boxer, Andy lee, ahead of his Yanjing Fight night main event showdown with Mamadou Thiam at the University of Limerick Arena this Saturday.
Lee was in Limerick this week ahead of the fight with the Senegalese Frenchman who failed to turn up for the pre fight media obligations. Thiam, the self proclaimed “dentist” that “knocks fighters out for a living”, was absent from the Crescent Shopping Centre public spectacle set up for fight fans after he missed his flight from Paris on Tuesday.
However, the no show spurred the confidence of Lee to “put him away”.
“I will have to get a sense of him and he is there to be beat like everybody else”.
The Castleconnell man was well aware of the verbal sparring that Thiam had been throwing about in the run up to the fight but Lee noted that, “Thiam either knocks you out or gets knocked out. He has 43 knockouts so far and it certainly won’t be 44 here after Saturday.
“He is a good strong opponent, he’s very strong and dangerous but he’s not in my class. I have to box him and I’ll beat him.”
Ranked 17 in the world, Lee knows of what a win on Saturday could bring him in the bigger picture and notes that a European title is not the end goal, he wants a world title shot.
“The European title is there, it’s just a matter of making the match and the champion is Barker in the UK. I don’t know if he will fight me. That’s something for Brian (Peters) and his matchmaker to get together, but ultimately I want to be a World Champion and not just a European Champion. If the European title comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, then it doesn’t”.
Noting the mix up that has happened at the top of the rankings, Lee may have an eye on an opening.
“It’s more open up there now. Martinez is really a light middleweight so he will be moving back down to his weight and Pavlik says he is going to move up in weight. So there is a big opening there.
But there’s more to it than just setting up a fight. Lee adds that he has to be with the right people who can make these things happen but ultimately that “they can’t keep ignoring me. I’m over 20 fights now and with plenty of experience, some one is going to have to fight me sooner or later.”
Always happy to return to Limerick to fight, Andy added that he still had a wish to fight in one of the city’s biggest arenas. “It would be nice to get to Thomond Park for a fight but it could only happen if it was a title bout”. Andy Lee fights on the main event (10pm) of the Yanjing fight night at the UL Arena this Saturday from 6pm. Limerick’s Jamie Power is also in action for an Irish title fight. Tickets from Tickemaster and local outlets.
