Some days Andy Lee, trainer of Joseph Parker, just wants to discuss ‘Nosferatu’ - Part 1
- Shidonna Raven
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
This Article has been curated by UDBN
February 19, 2025
Source: Boxing Scene
“I really want to talk about ‘Nosferatu,’” says Andy Lee as he drives away from the gym having just watched Joseph Parker, his heavyweight, spar eight rounds.
It is perhaps better, for him, to be asked about “Nosferatu,” or indeed any film, than to be asked about the thing that has stalked, consumed, and threatened to suck the life from him for over 30 years. It is also, as far as topics of conversation go, preferable to Daniel Dubois, Parker’s next opponent, and anything else Lee finds himself thinking about on a daily basis.
Besides, he had already done the boxing chat. That had all happened the day before I arrived in Dublin, Ireland, when a pack of reporters and their cameras descended on Ballybrack Boxing Club and wanted to know how Parker’s training was going and what Parker would attempt to do on the night of February 22. Come Tuesday, the following day, Lee had no time for any more lip service. He had, in truth, little time at all.
“I wake up at 6.30, get the kids dressed, fed, lunches made, school run done …” he says, currently behind schedule. “We are literally late every day. We’re never on time. But that’s fine. Then I go straight to the gym, get there for about 9.30, put on the heating, and the fighters start to come in and we train until about 12. I then rush back for the first school pickup at 12.30, then another at 1.15, and then we have afternoon activities: swimming, ballet, drama, music, gymnastics. I then go back to the gym for afternoon training before returning home for food and to put the kids to bed.”
Not yet halfway through the day, Lee knows he still has much of this itinerary to complete and can therefore only give so much of his time to boxers and those wanting to ask him about boxing. Nowadays, you see, he is a retired fighter reaping the rewards of letting boxing sink its teeth into him for so many years. He has, for instance, a house of his own in Dublin, which he shares with his wife and three children. He also has an extended family in the gym, all of whom require the same level of care and attention.
“The change in my life has been by degrees,” Lee says. “I’ve gone from just waking up and thinking about myself every second of the day and making decisions for myself – where you train, where you eat, when you sleep, what to watch on TV – to thinking about other people and making decisions for other people. First and foremost, my kids. That’s obviously a pleasure. But also, the fighters, who are like my kids.”
Back when we first met, in 2012, Lee had a lot more time. He had more time to discuss boxing, he had more time to himself, and he had more time ahead of him, too, professionally speaking. With so much time, in fact, he was often at a loss as to what to do most of the week. He would go to the gym, sometimes twice a day, and would then do his roadwork, but beyond that was rudderless; just another Irishman stuck in London. The days were long and the biggest challenge was filling them. Whenever our paths crossed, he would invariably ask: “Seen any good films lately?”
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