Fighter Lee turned pro and became king of the world

THERE’S A lot of talking heads all over the national media at present, and quantity most assuredly doesn’t equate to quality. The done thing now is to get a retired player on board as quickly as possible to offer their considered opinions, with television, radio and newspapers all well versed in this practice.

How on earth some of them are let near a microphone or a camera is a question I ask myself over and over again.

I may be in the minority, but whenever I’m watching a match on the box, I always turn the sound down at half-time because I couldn’t care less about the opinions of the ‘experts’ on the panel.

That is especially the case for hurling and soccer, but there are exceptions as always.

And when it comes to boxing, I’m always interested in the measured, considered and factually-backed views of ex-world champion Andy Lee.

He crops up regularly on Newstalk in particular, and the London-born fighter who moved to Limerick during his childhood years is always worth listening to.

And now that he has collaborated with award-winning writer Niall Kelly to compile an insightful book, his stock in media circles has risen to even greater heights.

Kelly was outside the ranks of usual ghost writers when he joined forces with Dublin footballer Philly McMahon for his autobiography in 2017, ‘The Choice’.

Word in the journalistic world was that some of the regulars for doing this type of work had their noses out of joint when Kelly not alone got this lucrative gig, but went on to collect two of the main awards on offer for his sterling work.

And his talent for putting someone else’s thoughts into prose shines through once again here as we are guided on Lee’s fascinating journey, in terms of his lifestyle and culture, as well as his progress in the ring.

His talent was first nurtured at the renowned Repton club in London, and after moving to Ireland it wasn’t long before Lee made rapid progress up through the ranks.

That brought him into contact with our own Billy Walsh and Zaur Antia initially in the High Performance Unit, but he attracted the attention of legendary American trainer Emanuel Steward and left Ireland in 2005 at the age of 20 in a bid to make it in professional ranks.

Steward took him under his wing and even provided a place for him to stay in his own home, so there was devastation for Lee in 2012 when his guide and confidant died.

That was also the year of defeat in his first world championship bout, but he gradually found his feet again, joined forces with a new trainer in Londoner Adam Booth, and eventually fulfilled his ultimate dream in the middleweight division.

If there’s one thing I find frustrating, it’s that this book follows the template of most similar-type publications I have read, in that 90% of the content deals with the fighter’s travails prior to their biggest win.

I’d like to learn more about what happened afterwards, but that tends to be dismissed rather quickly in memoirs of this nature.

It’s as though absolutely everything is geared towards this one big achievement, so that when it arrives, what follows pales into insignificance by comparison.

That criticism aside, Lee’s journey from his gypsy culture to one of the best boxers the country has every produced is outlined in an east-to-read style.

He’s a sportsman who puts thought into his opinions, just as his gift for the sweet science was hewn from a shrewd analytical brain. This book is a fine summation of his most endearing qualities. ALAN AHERNE

Visit The Book Centre on Wexford’s Main Street for the very best selection of sports books.