Andy Lee maintained his impressive unbeaten record as he easily accounted for compatriot Jason McKay at the National Stadium in Dublin on Saturday night, writes Ed Leahy.
The scheduled ten-round Irish Super-middleweight Championship fight only lasted six as Limerick fighter Lee stopped his county Down opponent at the conclusion of the sixth round
McKay’s coach John Breen had upset Lee at the weight-in on Friday claiming the man fighting out of the world famous Kronk Gym in Detroit had no heart, which proved detrimental to his own fighter as Lee set about punishing McKay from the first bell to the last.
The opening round was clearly won by southpaw Lee as he picked McKay off with some great shots with McKay offering nothing except a composed approach with both fighters starting at a decent pace.
Lee again was the superior fighter in Round Two as he dropped McKay with a big right hook at the end of the round with the Ulsterman already cut to the head after an accidental clash of heads.
Lee increased the aggression in Round Three and again took the round despite getting caught by a decent McKay punch.
Lee’s left eye was cut from the earlier clash and although McKay seemed to settle in Round Four Lee had won every round after twelve minutes.
Lee eased off the gas in Round Five as the Kronk man started the mind games and showboating with his opponent, thumping his own heart in reference to the weigh-in remarks of his coach.
Round Six seemed to spell the end for McKay who was visibly shaken as he took a barrage of head-shots from Lee who was proving accurate with virtually every thrown punch. At one stage, McKay got a welcome respite as he lost his gumshield after a right-left combination.
And that was the end of the contest as McKay failed to return for Round Seven conceding the fight to Lee who was crowned the new Irish Super-middleweight champion.
‘I wanted to prove that I had heart,’ said Lee at the end of the fight.
‘I knew it was only kidology but I had to prove that I had heart, so every time he hit me I’d hit him twice.’
‘Andy Lee will beat Kelly Pavlik to become middle-weight champion of the world,’ said coach Emanuel Stewart.
‘[John] Duddy may not want to fight Pavlik just yet but Andy Lee will fight any middleweight in the world today.’
‘It’s my dream to get off the plane at Shannon and walk down O’Connell Street and meet the people of Limerick with the WBC belt,’ added Lee.
On the undercard, Colin Moffett from Belfast won the Irish Bantamweight Championship, stopping Eugene Heagney in the first minute of the eighth round.
