Andy Lee

Good post. Against Vera, Andy did not seem to know how to stay out of a dog fight, nor did he know how to win a dog fight. He needs to either learn to control a brawler with his jab, or learn to stay in the pocket and beat a brawler at his own game. Both would be nice. Lee is young, and still very much a work in progress. I think he's two years from a title shot. By that time Pavlik and Abraham will both be at 168, and the scene at 160 will be very different.

 

I like Lee a lot and i think he will improve drastically from the Vera fight but Steward put him on the fast track instead of taking his time.The loss could actually make his career.I think he could definitely win a title at 160 after Pavlik and AA move to Super-middle, not before.BTW i think his power is overrated,his right hook is excellent but his straight left is not great

 

It'll be no consolation for Andy Lee, but the fight Vera and himself put on was one of the standout fights of 2008, in my opinion. Underrated war.

 

You're right about Lee's power. He built his KO reputation on small fighters and against poor opposition. Pavlik built his rep by stopping 7 or 8 guys who had never been stopped before, and doing it highlight reel fashion. Abraham built his rep ..... well .... one right hand at a time! That is a pretty big difference. Right now, if they want to put Andy on track for a title shot, they would be smart to set their sights on Sturm, and forget KP and AA.

 

It's hard on Andy Lee, because he did everything right offensively in the Vera fight. People look back and say he was to willing to trade, but he was bouncing combination's off of Brian Vera's chin, round after round, seemingly with no effect. You will always run into a fighter that has granite for a jaw, and Andy Lee had wasted so much energy throwing combination's that he had became tired down the stretch. I don't think the fight should have been stopped, but Lee was hurt and tired at the same time, which made his situation all that more desperate for the young fighter.

If he had paced himself a little more, and opened up only when Vera missed his shots, then Andy would have not only saved some energy, but possibly hurt Vera with shots he doesn't see. If Vera bares in with wide shots, he should be prepared to clinch, something he rarely or never did in their fight.

I don't think redemption is essential, but I would like to see Andy Lee vindicate himself against Vera sometime in the near future.

 

Lee threw about 3 right hooks against Vera:huh - Vera ain't hard to hit,why not throw your money punch

 

Exactly. This is the sort of thing I'm talking about Andy learning.

I also think there was a huge mental/emotional issue in the Lee/Vera fight. Andy saw it as a chance to show off on TV. Vera saw it as the opportunity of a life time.

 

Coming after Pavlik/Taylor I started to wonder about Stewart's conditioning training.

 

Andy Lee landed his right hand all night, perhaps not always in the form of a hook, but you would have felt he landed with enough regularity to get Vera out of there. Especially considering his knockout ratio, but we've already discussed how misleading stats alone can be.

 

I only watched the fight once so i could be wrong but from what i remember he threw the right to set up the big left which wasn't doing a whole lot of damage.
I've seen Lee's last 7 or 8 fights, and most Ko's came from his right hook which he rarely threw against Vera

 

Perhaps.

I think the reason that Andy Lee didn't get the knockout was more a credit to Vera's chin and will rather than Lee's shot selection, personally.

 

Vera has a great chin as evidenced recently against Kirkland, but i hope he doesn't get seriously hurt as he takes way too many punches

 

Please don't tell me this was a bad stoppage. The ref was on top of things. He saw what we can all see on this clip. Andy's best shot couldn't even make Vera blink. Vera on the other hand was just wading in and teeing off. I want Andy to well because anything that heats up 160 is good for Pavlik who is my current favorite, but Andy Lee got his ass handed to him in this fight.
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