By Jason Kim: Middleweight contender Andy Lee (28-1, 20 KO’s) made easy work of 39-year-old journeyman Saul Duran (40-20, 33 KO’s), stopping him in the 2nd round on Saturday night at the Suburban Collection Showplace, Novi, Michigan, United States.

Lee, #2 WBA, #2 WBO, knocked Duran to the canvas in the opening round in a one-sided round with a right hook to the head that caught Duran while he was charging forward. In the 2nd, Lee continued to pound Duran at will until the fight was halted at :54 of the round after Lee knocked Duran to the canvas with a left to the midsection followed by a hard right hook to the head.

Lee mostly used his jab to control the constantly circling Duran. For his part, Duran fought much differently than he did in losing to Demetrius Andrade by a third round TKO last September in an ESPN2 televised bout. In that fight, Durant constantly charged Andrade and had some success in landing big shots. However, against Lee, Durant was hit with some hard right hooks when he attempted to bull rush him early. After that experience, Duran played it safe for the most part by mostly moving around the ring until getting blasted out in the 2nd.

Lee is hoping to get a fight against WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. but it’s not likely to happen. Lee is perhaps a little good and will probably have to wait a long time before he ever gets a chance at the belt.

In the meantime, Lee needs to face better opposition than this. He passed on a much better fight against unbeaten middleweight contender Peter Quillin that would have gone a long ways towards increasing Lee’s popularity.