Has Steward inserted his foot into his mouth yet again?
By: Christopher Roche
Commentary
In a very intriguing match, undefeated Irisman Andy Lee will face off against once beaten Brian Vera on “Friday Night Fights” (ESPN2). Lee is 15-0, 12 KO’s, and the full Emmanuel Steward hype machine has begun. Joe Tessitore released an article today stating that according to Steward, Lee will become THE MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD WITHIN THE NEXT TWELVE MONTHS.
Steward, of course, is prone to inserting his foot into his mouth lately, (i.e. telling Jermain Taylor he was behind in the first fight against Pavlik or telling Klitschko he had to knock out Ibragimov), so should we really take him seriously?
The answer to that question is…no.
Steward, like any manager, trainer or promoter, will hype his fighter. In Andy Lee, Steward sees something he never had before, an Irishman with a potentially huge following. Steward sees the mainstream appeal and the potential box office receipts, but he is putting the cart before the horse. The fact is Andy Lee has done nothing in the ring to warrant title talk. He is a 23 year-old kid who has not been tested or exposed to wide audiences. Last year, I saw him on the undercard of the Duddy vs. Bonsante fight, and Lee defeated a hapless and shot Carl Daniels. To date, that is Lee’s best victory.
Steward is doing a disservice to Lee by rushing him into the title picture so soon. Kelly Pavlik fought thirty-one times before he got a shot at the title. John Duddy is sitting at 24-0; Giovanni Lorenzo is at 26-0; Paul Smith is 23-0; Joe Greene is 18-0; Peter Quillin is 17-0, and Sergio Mora is 20-0-1. Before Lee is crowned the next champion by Emmanuel Steward perhaps he should beat some of those aforementioned participants.
Vera will test Lee this weekend, and Steward and team Lee need to be ready. Vera was stopped by Jaidon Codrington on the Contender 3, but he was fighting out of his weight class in a made for television event. Before that bout, Vera looked very tough against Sam Miller, and he bounced back from the Codrington loss with a win over Max Alexander.
Friday night will not be a walkover for Lee. However, if he wants to live up to Steward’s bold prognostications, then he needs to defeat Vera in convincing fashion.