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He needed to rally tonight to do it, buy "Irish" Andy Lee kept his career alive and may have bought himself a world title shot sooner than later with a knockout win tonight over John Jackson to open the Miguel Cotto vs Sergio Martinez pay-per-view card at Madison Square Garden.
Lee (33-2, 23 KO) was dropped hard in round one by Jackson (18-2, 15 KO), and probably lost the next three rounds, too, which put him in a 40-35 hole on our scorecard, as well as the unofficial card from HBO's Harold Lederman. But late in the fifth round, with Jackson looking like he might be going for the finish or at least another knockdown, Andy Lee opened up with a bomb of a right hook counter that put Jackson on the canvas, down and out.
Referee Ricky Gonzalez didn't even bother with a count, as the fight was clearly over. After all was said and done, Jackson did get up and was seemingly pretty clear-headed a few minutes later, congratulating Lee on the win.
This was a must-win fight for Andy Lee, who moved down to 154 pounds for this fight, but there is some reason to believe he got a little lucky here. He wasn't doing much effectively at all until he ripped Jackson with that hook, and this was a true one-punch KO. Is Lee's future any brighter in reality, or just for his potential future paydays?