Andy Lee doubts Chavez Jr. took a drug test for their fight

By Allan Fox: Middleweight contender Andy Lee (28-2, 20 KO’s) expressed his unhappiness with the way his fight with WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KO’s) was handled last month in his 7th round TKO loss at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. Lee, 28, noted that the size of the ring was small, the canvas was soft, and he has doubts as to whether Chavez Jr. took a drug test for the fight.

Speaking with Sky Sports Ringside, Lee said “He [Chavez Jr] didn’t take a drug test after the fight. They like to take a test before the fight, and the way it worked out there was suspicions whether he even took the test before the fight. And it was a small ring and a very soft canvas. So I found it hard to move, but I’m not making any excuses. I took my chances going down there. I knew the conditions would be tough and it just didn’t work out. That’s the way it goes. In training, I was training with big super middleweights, Edwin Rodriguez, Donovan George, we had Brian Vera in there, Adonis Stevenson. With big gloves and headgear, I was hurting all these guys, holding my own, standing my ground. With him [Chavez Jr] the punches didn’t seem to. The more I hit him the stronger he seemed to get. There’s a suspicion about him, there really is.”

Lee seems to be making a lot of excuses for what he couldn’t do in the ring. Chavez Jr. has already been confirmed for having taken his drug test by Top Rank so that’s not even an issue.

Lee made a lot of mistakes in the fight by failing to move enough, and retreating to the ropes to try and fight from that spot. Lee also spent too much time slugging with the bigger Chavez Jr, and he failed to follow his trainer Emanuel Steward’s advice of boxing Chavez Jr, staying off the ropes and moving. I don’t know if it would have changed anything in this fight, but I think Lee would have lasted a lot longer. He and his trainer Steward knew that Chavez Jr. was going to be bigger than him, and they also knew that Chavez Jr. was the better inside fighter, yet Lee still stood in front of him and let Chavez Jr. work on the inside. I think Lee only has himself to blame for that. Sparring with bigger guys is one thing but a real fight is much different because the gloves are smaller and there isn’t any headgear to protect you. Also, fighters are much more intense in a fight compared to in most sparring sessions. There’s a lot more on the line compared to a simple workout.