Andy Lee (30-2-2, 21 KOs) needed only a minute and twenty-seven seconds to stop journeyman Darryl Cunningham (28-5, 11 KOs) at the BB King Blues Club and Grill in New York City.
Lee, 28, looked lackadaisical last February in winning a ten round decision over Anthony Fitzgerald in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Prior to that, his bid against middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez ended in round seven.
Tonight, he wasted no time taking charge against Cunningham, 38, of Detroit, Michigan. Lee, a southpaw, pumped his right jab in Cunningham’s face and body.
Near the minute mark, as Cunningham tried to protect against further bodyshots, Lee turned his right jab into a hook. The punch rocked Cunningham to his heels. Lee jumped on his opponent and battered him with a salvo of punches, until referee Benjv Estevez waved off the contest.
“I felt very good,” Lee told Kugan Cassius of Ifilm London outside his locker room. “I had a very good training camp. I caught him with a very good punch.”
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