Who Should Andy Lee Fight In 2009?

Andy Lee will make his ring comeback in February after recuperating from eye surgery. Lee experienced mixed fortunes in 2008 with his loss to unheralded Brian Vera, his dramatic comeback against Willie Gibbs in Limerick and his decision to take time off to deal with the cut that had given him trouble in past bouts. Now he is back in training and planning his comeback for 2009, which includes a fight in mid February and a March 17th fight,
which will most likely be in the U.S. In a recent interview, Lee mentioned a possible European title fight in the summer of 2009 so this may see him fighting in Ireland and Britain in the next year.

So who should Lee's management be lining up for him to fight in 2009? Here are a few names that would prove interesting challenges for Lee :

Brian Vera - the obvious reason for a Lee V Vera rematch would be for Andy to avenge his defeat to the Texan and put the loss behind him. What would be more important however, is for Andy to prove to himself that the mistakes which he made against Vera, and the vulnerabilities he showed have now been addressed. A comprehensive beating of Vera would buoy Lee's confidence also, so he could move on to bigger challenges without any lingering doubts about his abilities should he come up against a similar Vera type brawling fighter in the future.
Vera already refused a rematch with Lee, opting instead to take on the hot prospect, James Kirkland, but with the subsequent defeat at the hands of Kirkland, the possibility of a Lee rematch may be an attractive proposition for Vera to prove that his win over Lee was not a fluke.

Howard Eastman - a Lee V Eastman fight would be a good test of Lee's skills and also a good barometer to gauge an accurate comparison between Lee and John Duddy, who fought Eastman in January 2008. Duddy struggled with the wiley Eastman who had a 42-5-0 record going into the fight, and although Duddy won the bout on points, he got caught far too much and at times looked technically poor. Eastman has two wins under his belt since his loss to Duddy and despite his age, would still be a stern test for any middleweight prospect. A convincing win for Lee over a fighter of Eastman's skill and experience would be a good stepping stone for him, and would keep him in contention for a possible European title if he decided to take that route.

Luis Ramon Campas - the 37 year old veteran boxer of 105 fights took both John Duddy and Matthew Macklin to 10 rounds and although he lost these bouts, he did not give either, particularly Duddy, an easy fight. It would be interesting to see if the powerful Lee could do what neither Duddy nor Macklin could do and stop Campas inside the distance. A bout with Campas would bring Lee's fight game on a lot, and he would no doubt learn a thing or two about fighting as opposed to boxing, which is where Lee seems to struggle. If Lee plans on winning European or world titles in the future, he needs wins over experienced boxers like Campas. This fight would also allow Irish boxing fans to have a point of comparison between Lee, Macklin and Duddy.

James McGirt Jr - the son of former world champion, Buddy McGirt, is a 26 year old, 6'1" southpaw, who like Lee was a highly regarded middleweight prospect, with 16 straight wins to his credit before his fight with Carlos De Leon in April 2008. He too, like Lee in his fight with Vera, was expected to win the fight quite easily, but lost by TKO in the 7th round.
A fight between Lee and McGirt would be an interesting one as both boxers have good skill and boxing abilities, both are tall southpaws, they have similar records, Lee's record is 16-1-0 with 13 KO's, while McGirt's record is 19-1-1 with 9 KO's, and both boxers were stopped for the first time in their careers in 2008. Despite both Lee and McGirt having a little of the shine taken off their records, they have both come back since with convincing wins, and are still thought of as decent middleweight prospects.
Lee would have a good chance of winning this contest, as despite McGirt's boxing skill, he showed his vulnerability and questionable chin against DeLeon, which Lee could take advantage of. It would however not be a walk over like some of Lee's previous fights, as McGirt, as mentioned before, has the skills to really test Lee.
This fight would most likely raise Lee's profile in the U.S. and would be a fight that a lot of U.S. boxing fans would like to see.