Fighter

A lyrical and poignant memoir from former world boxing champion and Irish Olympian Andy Lee who brawled his way to the top of the world’s most unforgiving sport.

Outside of the ring, boxing legend Andy Lee was the Irish Traveller in England. The English cousin in Ireland. The white boy in Detroit. But inside the ring he was only ever one thing: a fighter.

In 2005, at the age of twenty, Andy Lee left Limerick to make it in the harsh and unforgiving world of professional boxing. Under the guidance of the legendary Emanuel Steward, he set about honing his craft, winning fight after fight slowing ascending the professional ranks.

Then in 2012, Lee suffered two devastating blows in quick succession: defeat in his first world championship bout and the sudden loss of Steward, his guide and confidant. Bereft, his career was in jeopardy, the path to redemption would test every hard-won lesson of the previous decade.

Fighter is a lyrical and philosophical memoir about resilience, bravery, and the wisdom to be found at the limits of human experience.

Andy Lee was the WBO middleweight world champion from 2014–2015, making him the first Irish boxer to win a world title on American soil since 1934, and the first member of the Traveller community to win a major world title. He signed his first professional contract with Emanuel Steward in 2005 and moved to Detroit to train in the world-renowned Kronk Gym until Steward died in 2012, after which Lee joined up with English trainer Adam Booth. Over the course of his professional career, he accumulated thirty-five professional victories. Lee hung up his gloves in 2018 and is currently a member of the DAZN broadcast team and trainer for several leading fighters.