Lee sets sights on Irish defence

Boxing: Andy Lee has thrown down the gauntlet to England’s Billy Joe Saunders and challenged him to try and take his belt away – in Ireland.

Independent.ie  Newsdesk and Agencies

Lee claimed the WBO crown in Las Vegas on Saturday night after a stunning 6th round TKO of Russia’s Matt Korobov.

Andy Lee (L) throws a left at Matt Korobov during their fight for a vacant WBO middleweight title at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

Saunders is the mandatory challenger for the belt after edging out Chris Eubank Junior on a split decision in the WBO eliminator last month.

But Lee insists that he’s the WBO top dog now and any defence will be on his terms.

“I’m champ, I’m not going outside of Ireland. He (Billy Joe) can come to me if he wants to fight me. That’s it, come try and take this belt away,” said the Limerick southpaw.

Source:  www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/in-brief-boxing-lee-sets-sights-on-irish-defence-30839926.html