New World Middleweight Boxing Champion Andy Lee came home to a hero’s welcome in Limerick yesterday and it is possible that his first defence of the belt will be on Irish soil, perhaps as early as St Patrick’s Day.
His next fight will be against England’s Billy Joe Saunders managed by Frank Warren and he was talking up the prospect of an Irish bout yesterday.
Professional boxing always follows the money and while Saunders last fight in London sold out the ExCel Arena – scene of Katie taylor’s Olympics triumph – memories of Bernard Dunne’s successes at what is now the Three Arena will have caused some tapping on calculators.
Lee’s last fight in Ireland was at the University of Limerick and UL would certainly be interested in hosting a World title bout if the numbers added up.
With Irish amateur boxing still on a high through Katie Taylor’s recognition as the countries most admired sports star, the Rio Olympics only 20 months away and Conor McGregor tearing it up in the UFC, the next couple of years look like being winners for fighting sport in all its guises here.
The challenge now will be to see whether that popularity can translate into commercial sponsorship deals.
Taylor has endorsements with Bank of Ireland, Toyota, Lucozade Sport, Adidas, Aramark, Sky Sports and KPMG while in his prime Dunne had lucrative deals with Ladbrokes and Hunky Dorys.
