By Daniel Hughes: This Saturday, on the 19th of December in Manchester, England, boxing fans will at last see Andy Lee face Billy Joe Saunders for the WBO middleweight title. Style wise, both fellow southpaw fighters also with similar backgrounds. It is the third time scheduled, twice postponed and a factor in removing the casual boxing fans interest.
The venue and country of the fight has been moved, and both men are from a traveling background. Both personable men, will no doubt see the irony in that fact. Both fighters are used to the versatility life brings and being true fighting men it will not bother either in the slightest.
The champion being Andy Lee the tall rangy southpaw, with that beautiful get out of jail card of being able to take an opponent out with a crunching left hook, which is his signature punch.
Lee was mentored by the late great Manny Steward and pardon the pun, he has traveled a long hard road to becoming champion. The journey he has taken has had setbacks, but he is a fighter that has never doubted he would become capable of reaching his career goal. Andy Lee is the proven puncher in this contest, he doesn’t lack boxing ability but the tendency to need to come from behind on the scorecards a factor in this fight for me.
Billy Joe Saunders the unbeaten challenger a very technical southpaw with a classy amateur background, Olympian at 18. This will be his first world title shot, and he will relish the occasion. Saunders is the younger, fresher fighter has a superb jab and good footwork, which are the keys to victory for me. The jab and ability to get off decent combinations, I believe will see him win on points. Saunders has a very good chin and no doubt Lee will test it once again tomorrow night.
The conditioning of both will no doubt be tested. Saunders has been questioned on his stamina in the past and he will need to prove it tomorrow. Lee is always dangerous in a fight, more often when he is hurt. I think like the Chris Eubank Jr fight, which Saunders kept his composure to win last year in November, and rightly so a close points decision, I think Saunders will again do so tomorrow night in a step up in class for Saunders, but he will make his point tomorrow.
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