Michael Gene Lee (born June 17, 1987) is an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. He turned pro in February 2010.

Background

Lee is a 2005 graduate of

Benet Academy Benet Academy ( ) is a co-educational, college-preparatory, Benedictine high school in Lisle, Illinois, United States, overseen by the Diocese of Joliet. Founded in 1886, the school was initially established in Chicago as the all-boys St. Procopiu ...

Lisle, Illinois Lisle ( ) is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,390 at the 2010 census, and in 2019 the population was recorded to be 23,270. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Illinois Technology and Resea ...

where he was all conference linebacker in the Catholic League. Lee spent his freshman year at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

and then transferred to the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

in 2006 and graduated with a 3.8

GPA Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...

in 2009 with a degree in finance from Notre Dame's

Mendoza College of Business The Mendoza College of Business is the business school at the University of Notre Dame, a private university in Notre Dame, Indiana. Founded in 1921, it offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is ranked among the top 30 business scho ...

. He was offered jobs on Wall Street. Lee says, "I relax by watching CNBC, and I like to read the ''Wall Street Journal''."

Amateur career

Lee was introduced to the sport at age 16, when his cousin, who is an amateur boxer, took him to the Windy City Gym. Notre Dame does not have an intercollegiate boxing team. However, Lee won the

Bengal Bouts The Bengal Bouts is an annual charity boxing tournament hosted by the Men's Boxing Club at the University of Notre Dame airing on ESPN, with proceeds benefiting the Holy Cross Missions in Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the Peopl ...

, an all campus intramural boxing tournament each of the three years that he attended the school. During Lee's sophomore year, he won the 175-pound crown in a technical knockout that was called in the third round. In his junior year he was named junior captain and defended his title. Lee was named Boxer of the Year in his junior year, a feat that is typically reserved for a senior. Lee was named boxing team captain his senior year where he again won his third straight title in the Bengal Bouts. Lee competed in the 2009

Chicago Golden Gloves The Chicago Golden Gloves is an amateur boxing tournament, considered by many boxing aficionados as one of the three most elite Golden Gloves titles, along with the Intercity Golden Gloves and the New York Golden Gloves. The tournament is also more ...

competition in the sub-novice class, where Lee went undefeated in four matches, winning his class. In one memorable bout, Lee broke his opponents ribs thus immediately stopping the fight.

Professional career

Lee is the current IBF-USBA Light Heavyweight champion and is ranked in the top 15 of the light heavyweight world rankings. He trains with Jamal Abdullah at the famed Wild Card West Boxing Gym in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. Prior to being in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

full-time, Lee was in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

working with legendary trainer

Ronnie Shields Ronnie Shields (born June 6, 1958 in Port Arthur, Texas) is a former professional boxer in the featherweight division and is currently a boxing trainer. Amateur career Shields had a stellar amateur career. In 1974 he was the National Junior Oly ...

. Lee won his professional debut on May 29, 2010 at the UIC Pavilion in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, in a four-round unanimous decision over Emmett Woods. All three judges scored the fight 40-36. On September 11, 2010, at the Palms Resort and Casino in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, Lee defeated Alex Rivera at 2:59 of the second round. Lee received national attention through his endorsement contract with

Subway Subway, Subways, The Subway, or The Subways may refer to: Transportation * Subway, a term for underground rapid transit rail systems * Subway (underpass), a type of walkway that passes underneath an obstacle * Subway (George Bush Interconti ...

that resulted in his appearance in a 2013 Super Bowl television commercial. Following Lee's knockout of Tyler Seever in August 2012, Lee did not fight again until 2014. Lee spent two years in and out of hospitals battling what was later learned to be an autoimmune disease known as Ankylosing Spondylitis. His comeback from the hospital bed to back in the ring was documented in his well received article he wrote for The Player's Tribune titled: ''Invisible Pain.'' Lee won his return to the ring - a sixth-round TKO against Peter Lewison On September 30, 2016 Lee won a ten-round unanimous decision over Chris Traietti (21-4) at Chicago's UIC Forum to win the USBA-IBF title. The scores were 98-91, 99-90, 99-90. The victory made Lee the first fighter from Notre Dame’s amateur boxing program to win a title in the pro ranks." On 15th September, 2017, Mike Lee made easy work of Aaron Quattrocchi, defeating him in just one round. Lee dropped his opponent twice in the opening round, and hurt him badly enough that the referee had to stop the fight. In his next fight, Lee defeated Jose Hernandez via 10-round unanimous decision. It seemed like it would be an early finish after Lee shook Hernandez significantly in the opening round. However, Hernandez recovered and made for an entertaining bout, which Lee still managed to win comfortably in the end. In his following fight, Lee fought his first world title fight, against IBF super middleweight champion

Caleb Plant Caleb Hunter Plant (born July 8, 1992) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF super middleweight title from 2019 to 2021. As of November 2021, he is ranked as the world's third-best active super middleweight by the Transnational Box ...

. Plant dominated the fight from the beginning. His dominance culminated with two knockdowns in the third round, which prompted the referee to stop the fight and award the champion with the TKO win.

Professional boxing record

Charity work

In the summer of 2008 Lee went to

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

to see first hand how the money raised during the

is used to aid people of all different ages including the construction of an entire school for children. Lee has established a foundation to help fund the Holy Cross Missions of Bangladesh where a portion of his purse money will be donated. In partnership with Champions for Children, he donated two ringside seats plus travel expenses for his November 2010 fight. The charity benefits Children’s Memorial Hospital. On September 16, 2011, Lee headlined a professional boxing event at

The University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

inside the Purcell Pavilion in the

Joyce Center The Joyce Center, formerly the Athletic & Convocation Center, is a 9,149-seat multi-purpose arena in Notre Dame, Indiana just north of South Bend. The arena opened its doors in 1968. It is home to the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish baske ...

. The Mike Lee Foundation pledged all profits from this event, over $100,000 to the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation, the Robinson Community Learning Center in South Bend and the Kelly Cares Foundation, headed by Coach Brian Kelly of the Fighting Irish Football Team.

References

External links

*
Official Website

Top Rank Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Mike 1987 births Living people People from Downers Grove, Illinois Sportspeople from DuPage County, Illinois Boxers from Illinois American male boxers University of Missouri alumni University of Notre Dame alumni Super-middleweight boxers