Super-Flyweight Jimmy Lee burst into tears after beating Ricky Starkey on Saturday (11 June) and footage of the emotional moment has garnered attention online.
Shortly after recording the first stoppage of his professional career, Lee, 18, choked up while being interviewed by Sky Sports, becoming visibly emotional as he insisted: “I'm made for this game.”
Fighting back tears, Lee said in full: “First of all, I want to say thank you to everybody that came out here tonight. I'm choked up. I'm made for this game, and anybody who wants it, can have it."
During the weekend’s fight, Lee caught Starkey with a right hook with just 30 seconds left of the third round.
Once Starkey wobbled, Lee unloaded a series of punches, forcing Starkey into the corner of the ring, at which point the ref waved off the fight.
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Social media users thought it was admirable that Lee didn’t hold back his emotions, with one person writing: “Love the passion, go on pal.”
Another echoed: “Inspirational,” while a third penned: “Top kid. Future world champ.”
Taking to Instagram following his win, Lee penned: “First of all I wanna say massive thank you to all my team & sponsors that helped me out through all my camp the 7 weeks. Last night was a class performance with a great finish in the third. A lot of respect to my opponent, a true warrior.”
Lee also shared a clip of his Sky Sports interview on his Instagram Stories, and was quick to poke fun at himself.
The video was captioned: “When the lads have been taking the piss out of you all night but you walk past them with a 10/10 by your side.” Over the footage, Lee wrote: “Shall I make a TikTok account?”
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Lee hasn’t even been boxing professionally for a year, having only signed with a manager on his 18th birthday.
The athlete announced the news on Instagram at the time, sharing a message that read in part: “On Jimmy Lee’s 18th birthday we signed a manager contract to turn professional.
“Jimmy was always going to turn over when 18. Now we start a new chapter with the very same team that brought us so much success.
“Jimmy is the true reflection of loyalty, that’s why we’ll be a winning team.” Lee captioned his post: “The next chapter starts now, we are ready to take over.”
Topics: Boxing
Aisha Nozari