By Scott Gilfoid: #1 WBO Matt Korobov (24-0, 14 KOs) vs. #3 WBO Andy Lee (33-2, 23 KOs) has been added to the December 13th fight between Tim Bradley and Diego Chaves, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN.
The Korobov-Lee fight will be part of a triple-header on HBO Championship Boxing from the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Also on the card is Mauricio Herrera vs. Jose Benavidez, and Denis Shafikov vs. TBA.
”Korobov-Lee has been added to 12/13 @HBO boxing card, making it a tripleheader with Bradley-Chavez and Herrera-Benavidez. Excellent show,” Rafael said on his twitter.
Lee, 30, is getting a shot at the vacant WBO middleweight title against Korobov, because Demetrius Andrade opted not to take the fight due to the money being right. #2 WBO Billy Joe Saunders will be fighting Chris Eubank Jr next month, and he’s not available to take the fight.
Saunders will be facing the winner of the Korobov-Lee fight. Lee earned the right to fight for the WBO title after beating John Jackson by a 5th round knockout last June. Lee was quite fortunate to get the knockout, because he was on his way to being stopped in that fight. Jackson totally dominated the first four rounds, and had Lee on the canvas in the 1st round.
Korobov has a pretty strong chin, and I can’t imagine he’ll get knocked out like Jackson did. He’s also a much better defensive fighter than Jackson, so you’re not going to see himself leaving his chin in the air to get by any of Lee’s left hooks in this fight way Jackson did. Korobov has good power, and he’ll likely take Lee into the deep end and drown him in the later rounds if he doesn’t knock him out early in the fight.
Lee likes to slug it out much to his own detriment. He was knocked out by Brian Vera and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr when he tried to punch with them. Since his loss to Chavez Jr, Lee has won his last five fights against Anthony Fitzgerald, Darryl Cunningham, Ferenc Hafner, Frank Haroche Horta and John Jackson.
For the most part, Lee’s opposition has been woeful, and that’s obviously a sign that his management didn’t feel confident enough to put him in with a live body with the kind of talent to challenge him. Even Jackson had Lee ready to go.
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