WBO MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION Andy Lee believes both he and opponent Peter Quillin came out of last night’s bout in New York with enhanced reputations.
The Limerick man, whose title wasn’t on the line as Quillin missed his weight on Friday, was knocked down in the first round but recovered well to earn a draw after going the distance against the undefeated American.
“I’m a little sore but no major damage done,” Lee said afterwards. “It looks worse than it is. It was a tough fight but I’m happy to be out of it healthy.
“I think it was a fair result in the end. He scored good knockdowns in the first few rounds and I boxed my way back into it. I was stronger and more consistent going down the stretch and that’s important in those 12 rounds.
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“He got the knockdown so that kind of skews your judgement in his favour. I got one back and for his last knockdown he stood on my toe. The referee acknowledged that at the end of the fight and said ‘Sorry, I realise now that was a mistake’.”
Ed Mulholland / INPHO
Ed Mulholland / INPHO / INPHO
Lee was determined to see the fight to go ahead despite Kid Chocolate’s failure to come in under 160lbs but admits it was a strange feeling knowing he would retain the belt win, lose or draw.
“I don’t know how to feel about it,” he said. “It was weird as it wasn’t even a championship fight but both of us enhanced our reputation and that’s what was on the line.
We both come out looking better because he showed his class and I showed my resilience and eventually my boxing.
“I don’t want to make any excuses and it was a fight at the end of the day so you’re going into it to win but you’re going in knowing that the title is restored anyway and in your mind if I lose the fight I’m still champion so how do I feel about that. I was a weird situation to go into.
“I didn’t want the fight to get cancelled and that was the first thing I said to (trainer) Adam (Booth).
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Lee revealed that he is unlikely to step into the ring again until August but didn’t rule out a rematch in the future.
“I would be (interested in a rematch),” he added. “If I don’t make those mistakes that I did earlier in the fight then it’s a different outcome. We’ll see what happens.”
'Both of us enhanced our reputations' - Lee open to rematch after 'weird' non-title fight
Updated at 12.00
WBO MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION Andy Lee believes both he and opponent Peter Quillin came out of last night’s bout in New York with enhanced reputations.
The Limerick man, whose title wasn’t on the line as Quillin missed his weight on Friday, was knocked down in the first round but recovered well to earn a draw after going the distance against the undefeated American.
“I’m a little sore but no major damage done,” Lee said afterwards. “It looks worse than it is. It was a tough fight but I’m happy to be out of it healthy.
“I think it was a fair result in the end. He scored good knockdowns in the first few rounds and I boxed my way back into it. I was stronger and more consistent going down the stretch and that’s important in those 12 rounds.
“He got the knockdown so that kind of skews your judgement in his favour. I got one back and for his last knockdown he stood on my toe. The referee acknowledged that at the end of the fight and said ‘Sorry, I realise now that was a mistake’.”
Lee was determined to see the fight to go ahead despite Kid Chocolate’s failure to come in under 160lbs but admits it was a strange feeling knowing he would retain the belt win, lose or draw.
“I don’t know how to feel about it,” he said. “It was weird as it wasn’t even a championship fight but both of us enhanced our reputation and that’s what was on the line.
“I don’t want to make any excuses and it was a fight at the end of the day so you’re going into it to win but you’re going in knowing that the title is restored anyway and in your mind if I lose the fight I’m still champion so how do I feel about that. I was a weird situation to go into.
“I didn’t want the fight to get cancelled and that was the first thing I said to (trainer) Adam (Booth).
Whoops!
We couldn't find this Tweet
Lee revealed that he is unlikely to step into the ring again until August but didn’t rule out a rematch in the future.
“I would be (interested in a rematch),” he added. “If I don’t make those mistakes that I did earlier in the fight then it’s a different outcome. We’ll see what happens.”
– Audio courtesy of Live 95FM
Originally published at 10.04
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Andy Lee Barclays Center Boxing kid chocolate Peter Quillin STill champ WBO middleweight champion