Lee vs. Saunders Results from Manchester:
Andy Lee and Billy Joe Saunders squared off on Saturday night in England, in a fight that was televised live in the United States by Showtime. After several delays and much pre-fight hype and anticipation, Saunders took home a tight decision victory in a small upset.
Official scorecards read 113-113, 114-112 and 115-111 for Saunders, winner by majority decision.
While all analysis would have projected that any one punch power displays would have come from Lee, in the 3rd round, it was Saunders who scored with a massive blow. A counter right hook dropped Lee and for a moment it looked as if he wouldn’t get up.
Lee did make it back to his feet, before being sent down for a second time, by another right. He battled back and survived the round though, and Saunders, perhaps wary of running out of gas or providing Lee an opportunity to land his own big shot, stepped off the gas in the following round, enabling Lee to fully recover.
In a fight that was largely devoid of other big moments, that 3rd round provided by far the most excitement and drama. Elsewhere, many of the rounds were quite close, which lent some mystery to the scorecard proceedings and how things might turn out.
It seemed that Saunders had done enough to earn the victory, although a late-rounds rally by Lee left things in doubt. Saunders controlled more of the action though with his slicker footwork and faster hands. But it was the knockdowns that made the difference.
Up next for Saunders could be an unnecessary rematch with Chris Eubank Jr., as that’s what has continued to be hyped up in the UK. American Daniel Jacobs had been vocally rooting for a Lee victory as he looked to a match against him, but perhaps a Jacobs-Saunders fight comes together instead.
Keep checking back over the next few days for more post-fight coverage of all of this weekend’s boxing action, including the Lee vs. Saunders results.
