The WBO middleweight champion will be crowned in Las Vegas on Saturday night when “Irish” Andy Lee takes on Matvey Korobov. But what do we know about Lee’s opponent?
Matt Korobov is an undefeated fighter hailing from Orotukan, Russia, who currently fight outs of the ABC Boxing Gym in Boca Raton, Florida and is trained by 1976 Olympic bantamweight silver medalist Charles Mooney.
Holding a professional record of 24-0, Korobov finished 14 of his fights by knockout before being awarded the chance to be crowned the WBO middleweight champion.
Korobov is currently ranked as number 1 at 160 lbs by the WBO and, in his last outing, won a 10 round unanimous decision against the previously undefeated Jose Uzcategu to seal the WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title
The Russian is a natural southpaw which would be problematic for most opponents but Lee, himself, is a left-handed fighter. Don’t be surprised, though, to see Korobov switch stances because, as he says himself: “I’m naturally left-handed, but in in Russia, they change you in prep school – so I can use both hands. ”
Limerick’s Lee will enjoy a three inch height advantage over the 5ft 11in Korobov which translates to a reach advantage of 4.5 inches (Lee’s 75in to Korobov’s 70.5).
Korobov has a much much more illustrious amateur record than “Irish”. The Russian has won gold at the 2005 and 2007 World Amateur Championships as well as in the 2006 European Amateur Championships and 2005 boxing World Cup.
Speaking about his time as an amateur, Korobov revealed the staggering amount of bouts he had before turning pro in 2008.
He said: “I had about 311 amateur fights, with about 10 losses. Most of my losses came when I was a teenager.”
Lee v Korobov takes place on the undercard of the Timothy Bradley vs Diego Chaves fight late on Saturday night.
At the time of writing, Ladbrokes had Korobov a 3/10 favourite over Lee.
