ANDY LEE WILL make the first defence of his WBO middleweight title in New York and not Ireland according to a report in this morning’s Irish Daily Star.
Lee, who beat Matt Korobov in Las Vegas in December to claim the crown, looked set to face Demark’s Patrick Neilsen in Dublin around St. Patrick’s Day.
However, it now appears the Limerick boxer will forego the opportunity to defend his title in front of an Irish crowd and face Peter Quillan in April instead.
By fighting the number two ranked Quillin – known as Kid Chocolate – in the Big Apple, the 30-year old is in line for a significantly bigger payday with the newspaper reporting it could be as much as three or four times what he would make by fighting in Ireland.
Quillin, of course, is a former WBO middleweight title holder but gave up the belt – and $1.2 million payday himself – last September rather than face Korobov.
He said at the time:
“Winning the WBO world championship was a highlight in my career and something I’ll never forget. This is a difficult decision, but in order to make the fights the fans and I want against my fellow middleweights at the top of the division, I needed to relinquish the title.”
So perhaps he had Lee in mind all this time?
Up the rebel’s
Two teams who play good football, should be a good game and hopefully a Dublin win.
As a Kerryman…I look forward to this game.
Should be a cracker alright
Always baffle by these things.
What’s the difference between looking forward to a game & looking forward to a game as a Kerry man?
Who are our two main rivals in history….?
Out of interest, why are subs never mentioned for Dublin?
They’re never released. They’ll be seen for the 1st time in the match programme.
A match program which is all over twitter
Haven’t seen it. Who are the subs then? Dubmatchtracker doesn’t even have them.
Subs. Currie, Andrews, Brady, David Byrne, Costello, Daly, Devereux, Fitzsimons, Emmet, Philly Ryan and small. No McAuley(yet)
McAuley injured. Saw a FB post from the Galway challenge game, said himself he was injured