Legend Lee is 'Sheer' class as a coach

ANDY LEE saw it all as a fighter.

- By ROBERT HYNES in New York

Huge success, devastating heartbreak, the Olympic Games, world champion status and countless ups and downs along the way.

This week, Lee is back in New York, a city he lived in for a time and where he fought five times as a professional.

His last fight came in the Big Apple eight years ago when he beat KeAndrae Leatherwood at Madison Square Garden, the same venue as Katie Taylor's trilogy bout with Amanda Serrano in the early hours of this morning.

But this time he is back in town as a coach - and an exceptional one at that - having learned from one of the best in Emanuel Steward.

His newest fighter Hamzah Sheeraz-headlines an historic event at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, the famous US Open Tennis venue, tonight against New York native Edgar Berlanga.

Undefeated with 21 wins and a split-decision draw in his last fight, against Carlos Adames for the WBC world middleweight title, the Englishman is having his first fight under Lee, who he joined earlier this year.

"I've never got along with a coach like I have with Andy," said the 26-year-old, who is moving up to super-middleweight for the fight. "It's really easy. I do what he says, even outside the ring when we go for walks or whatnot. He's a good guy."

Sheeraz is the latest fighter to move to the Dublin-based coach and joins Ben Whittaker in doing so, who landed a stunning second-round knockout win over Liam Cameron back in April in his first fight under Lee.

The win came six months after Whittaker drew with the same opponent after injuring himself in the sixth round in what he admitted was a poor performance.