By Scott Gilfoid: Middleweight contender Andy Lee (30-2, 21 KO’s) finally has an opponent for this Saturday’s fight on the undercard of the Carl Froch vs. George Groves card at the Phones 4u Arena in Manchester, UK. Lee #7 WBC, #12 WBA, will be facing 37-year-old Hungarian fighter Ferenc Hafner (21-4, 12 KO’s) in a scheduled 6 round bout.
It’s rather odd that the 29-year-old Lee would be fighting a 6 round bout at this point in his career, as he’s been a pro for 7 years and he’s already fought for a world title before and lost.
This is a backwards step from Lee’s last two fights against Daryl Cunningham and Anthony Fitzgerald, which were tune-ups after his 7th round knockout loss Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. last year in June. Lee, 29, is going to need to turn his carer back into the forward gear at some point unless he wants to burn it up fighting tune-ups. All Lee has to show for 2013 is three tune-up bouts against 2nd tier opposition.
Hafner, 37, is a southpaw with defeats against fighters like Rocky Fielding, Robert Woge, Roamer Angulo, and Sandor Miscko. I don’t recognize any of the names of the fighters that Hafner has beaten in his 3-year pro career, and that’s a pretty good sign that Lee will be having an easy time on Saturday night against him. Hafner has definitely been busy in his short career, as he’s already fought 8 times in 2013 and 6 times in 2012. He’s doing a good job of fighting a lot like you’d like to see guys starting out their careers, but the problem is he’s losing and he’s at a fairly advanced age already.
If Hafner has any game, he could give the 6’2″ Lee problems like Fitzgerald did. I’m not expecting that to happen, but it’s definitely possible. If a fighter like Fitzgerald was able to give Lee fits, then you can bet that Hafner will give him problems as well.
Lee needs to work on becoming a boxer for the remainder of his career because he’s failed when facing guys that put pressure on him and can punch. Brian Vera wore Lee down and stopped him in 2008, and Lee then spent the next four years fighting less than dangerous opposition. When he did step it up last year against Chavez Jr., Lee fought like he hadn’t learned anything from the mistakes he made against Vera. Instead of boxing Chavez Jr., Lee went after him and fought him toe-to-toe until he was blasted out in the 7th.
Comments are closed.