Andy Lee Announces His Retirement From Boxing

 Boxing Scene

Former WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee (35-3-1, 24 KOs) appeared on the Off The Ball program and announced his retirement from the sport.

Lee, 33 years old, has been out of the ring since last March.

He was in the discussion as a possible opponent for Daniel Jacobs on April 14th, but the two sides were not on the same bar when it came to the financial end and the fight never happened.

Lee had warned last year, that he was likely going to retire this year - unless he secured a high profile fight to get his competitive juices flowing.

He turned pro in 2006 and was a rising star until suffering a shock knockout loss at the hands of Brian Vera in March of 2008.

Lee was able to rebuild his career, winning his next thirteen fights - including a rematch with Vera and wins over Craig McEwan, Michael Walker, Saul Duram and Willie Gibbs.

He suffered his second career defeat at the hands of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. - who stopped the Irish boxer in seven rounds in 2012. The win is still regarded as one of the best if not the best of Chavez's career.

Once again Lee was able to rebuild his career and captured the vacant WBO middleweight tile with an unexpected knockout over highly touted Olympian Matt Korobov in December of 2014.

He then fought in a highly competitive draw with then undefeated Peter Quillin in April 2015 - where both boxers were on the floor. The bout became a non-title affair after Quillin was unable to make the weight limit.

Lee would lose his WBO title later that year, when he was dropped twice and lost a twelve round majority decision at the hands of Billy Joe Saunders.

He didn't return to the ring until March 2017 at New York's Madison Square Garden as part of the Gennady Golovkin vs. Daniel Jacobs undercard. He won a eight round decision over KeAndrae Leatherwood, but he didn't look that good in the fight.