Limerick's Andy Lee defends his WBO middleweight world championship belt against undefeated Brit Billy Joe Saunders in Thomond Park on September 19th, in what will be Ireland's first stadium fight since 1995.
Speaking after Tuesday's presser, Lee told Balls and our friends at Irish Boxing what it meant to him to put his title on the line at the home of his beloved Munster Rugby:
If I don't make any money, if I just break even I'll be happy. Because what price can you put on fighting in front of your home fans in a stadium like this?
On whether or not Munster's proud home record effects his mindset as he prepares to put it all on the line in their back yard, Lee told Balls,
It does now, thanks very much! No, I won't let the side down. I know the tradition here. I know what respect the fans have and how great the support is.
It'll make the difference. For [Billy Joe] - he's totally out of his comfort zone. As a professional I don't think he's fought outside of England, and he's going to have to come here and relocate to unfamiliar surroundings, where I know these streets like the back of my hand. He's going to have to come here and face the fans.
[Video: Irish Boxing]
The champ also told us of the massively enticing possibility that Katie Taylor could feature on the undercard, further whetting the appetite for what's set to be a legendary night in Limerick in two months' time.
I would have driven past this stadium and gone to matches here countless times and I always dreamt of fighting here. As soon as I won the world title in December my thoughts always turned to defending at Thomond Park,
said Lee.
I’ve said since I turned professional the dream would be to step off the flight at Shannon with the belt, and this is the natural progression - to fight here.
Undefeated mandatory champion Saunders claimed that the famous Thomond roar will do little to put him off his long-awaited world title tilt:
As soon as I pulled up to the place, I looked at it and it was a dream come true. Everyone wants home advantage but [Andy's] the champion and he deserves it.
A lot of fights need building up and talking about with trash talk but this doesn't need it. I've got a lot of respect for Andy. I just want his belt.
Tickets for what's being billed as the 'Showdown at Thomond Park' are now on sale from just €30 at Ticketmaster.
We'll be there with Balls on.
You can watch the full press conference, including Andy Lee teaching the British media how to pronounce 'Thomond,' (44:00) here:
