Kronk, Fury and Donovan – inside the mind of Andy Lee

IBF welterweight world title: Lewis Crocker v Paddy Donovan

Venue: Windsor Park, Belfast Date: Saturday, 13 September

The late, great Emanuel Steward once said, “I’ve never had a fighter that I’ve rated higher,” when speaking of an up-and-coming Andy Lee.

A prophecy that the 21-year-old who had arrived at Steward’s Kronk gym in Detroit would go on to win world honours came to pass when Lee stopped Matt Korobov for the WBO middleweight title in 2014 – two years after his venerable trainer’s passing.

In some ways, there are parallels to Steward’s mentoring of Lee and the role that the Limerick native, 41, has with Paddy Donovan who will take on Lewis Crocker for the vacant IBF welterweight title at Belfast’s Windsor Park on Saturday night.

Lee, a second cousin of Tyson Fury, has been a part of the coaching team for the ‘Gypsy King’ on some of the big nights against Deontay Wilder and Oleksandr Usyk, but on Saturday, he plans to be celebrating his first world champion.

Following his retirement as a prizefighter, a move to coaching was not quite inevitable, but a glimpse of the then amateur Donovan convinced him to guide the fortunes of his fellow Limerick man and member of the Irish Travellers community whom he felt had the X-factor that Steward once saw in him.

“We sat in 2019 and I could see the potential right away,” Lee said of ‘The Real Deal’ who lost his first fight with Crocker in March by way of disqualification for punching after the bell when ahead on all three cards.

“It’ll be nice to have Paddy, the first one I started with, becoming the first one to do it (win a world title). Not that I expected it this way, but it’s good. A Limerick man and a Traveller like myself, so it’s great.

Once upon a time, Lee was the young hopeful, fresh from the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens where he was Ireland’s sole boxing representative.

Until that point, his journey had taken him from London, where he began at the famed Repton club, to St Francis Boxing Club in Limerick when his family opted to relocate back to Castleconnell when he was aged 14.

Following the Athens Games, Lee had caught the attention of Steward who signed the tall southpaw to ensure Detroit was his next destination.

Keen to make an early impression, Lee famously arrived straight off the flight across the Atlantic and requested the opportunity to spar. Initially reluctant, Steward acceded to his wish and watched the newcomer, wearing borrowed boots and gloves, more than held his own against an established star in Cornelius Bundrage.

Thus began a relationship that was deeper than coach and fighter – an approach Lee employs with his own fighters which include Donovan, heavyweight Joseph Parker, Hamzah Sheeraz and Ben Whittaker.

“The influence of Emanuel, outside of my parents, is probably the biggest in my life because I lived with him all those years. He cooked my food and did my laundry,” Lee recalled.

“Emanuel grew me for that level from the start of my career. I travelled with him doing HBO [commentary in the United States], watched the fights and was in camp with [Wladimir] Klitschko, Jermain Taylor and all of the big fighters.

Just as Lee trained and sometimes sparred heavyweight king Klitschko, Donovan spent his first camp in the company of Fury, learning the tricks of the trade inside and outside of the ropes which have prepared him for his big night on Saturday.

In boxing, as in life, there are ups and downs with Lee losing his first world title opportunity when stopped by Julio Chavez Jr in 2012, just months before his great mentor succumbed to colon cancer.

It was under the tutelage of Adam Booth that Lee scaled the mountain with a highlight-reel knockout of John Jackson preceding the title win against Korobov.

As much as the methods and lessons of Steward have moulded him as a coach, so too have those learnt under Booth and the coaches who guided him as an amateur.

“When I look back at my life, being with fantastic coaches like Nicholas Cruz Hernandez, Zaur Antia, Billy Walsh, Gary Keegan, then Emanuel, SugarHill [Steward], Joey Gamache, Adam Booth to finish my career – you pick up so much,” he acknowledged.

“I still do the training with these guys that I did with Adam, all the physical circuits.”

That stable has been growing in number and stature with Lee helping heavyweight Parker get his career back on track with some eye-catching wins against Wilder and Zhilei Zhang, while Sheeraz and Whittaker have sought out his services to get them to the summit.

The Ballybrack Boxing Club in Dublin is a positive environment as the wins keep building, and Lee is confident Donovan can lead the way with the first world title for his team.

“I just look at him now and see a world champion.