clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Adam Booth: I fully expect Andy Lee to beat Korobov

Andy Lee and Matt Korobov meet in a big middleweight fight on Saturday, and Lee's trainer is fully confident that he'll win his first world title.

Scott Heavey/Getty Images

Trainer Adam Booth is getting Andy Lee ready for his second world title shot on Saturday night, when the Irish fighter faces Matt Korobov for the vacant WBO middleweight belt, with HBO televising.

Booth, who has trained David Haye and George Groves in the past, believes Lee (33-2, 23 KO) will win the fight, of course, and says that Korobov (24-0, 14 KO) hasn't really impressed in the pro game to date.

"I know he was a very successful amateur, a former two time world champion and an Olympian but amateur boxing is amateur boxing," said Booth. "He's not really shone as a professional yet but perhaps that's because he's not yet had the opponents that would enable him to advance his obvious talent to another level."

Booth didn't reveal anything about what he expects from Korobov.

"I'm not really sure how Korobov will approach the fight and I don't really care about him. I just care about Andy Lee," he said. "Hopefully, I've prepared him for every eventuality. Let's just say that, I don't enter this fight hoping that Andy will cause an upset, I fully expect him to win."

Lee, 30, fell short in his first world title opportunity, losing to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in 2012. This will be the first world title fight for the 31-year-old Korobov, a former blue chip prospect whose advancement has stalled in the last few years. Korobov beat Jose Uzcategui in his last fight on June 28, while Lee has won five in a row, including a comeback KO win over John Jackson on June 7.

Said Booth of the fight with Jackson, "I certainly was not impressed with how he started. Despite lots of work in the gym, he forgot to move his head and paid the price for that against a very big hitter," referencing Lee hitting the canvas in the opening round.

"But after that I was very impressed. That was the first time that Andy had been off his feet, as a pro, in his long amateur career, or even in the gymnasium. Yet despite twisting his ankle as he fell, he just dusted himself down and responded very calmly. He carefully eased his way back into the fight.

"John Jackson is a very dangerous man and he attacked relentlessly but Andy used all his experience to walk him onto a bomb. It was a very special finish but I always knew Andy had that in his locker. I'd seen a tape of him starching Carl Daniels rigid with a very similar shot, earlier in his career."

If Lee is successful, he'll be ordered to face mandatory challenger Billy Joe Saunders next, which could be a big fight in the UK or Ireland. But Booth isn't ready to address Saunders before dealing with Korobov.

"I'm not remotely interested in discussing anything other than Matt Korobov on Saturday evening. That's our only focus right now."

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for the Bad Left Hook Daily Roundup newsletter!

A daily roundup of all your global boxing news from Bad Left Hook