Iman Lee moves to Phase 2 of the WBC Grand Prix Tourney with Impressive Win

The bout took place at the BLVD City Global Theater in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where 32 featherweights competed in phase 1 of the tournament live on DAZN.

The tourney, a brainchild of the late Jose Sulaiman, kicked off on Thursday with the featherweight division and continues through the weekend with super lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight brackets.  The winners in each division will earn the Flame of Hope trophy and significantly raise their profile. 

The tournament featured innovative changes, including open scoring after rounds 2 and 4, instant replay, and a new way of scoring that eliminated the possibility of a draw.

While Lee dominated the bout with sharp jabs and tight defense, many were surprised to hear that the judges seemed to favor the more aggressive but less effective Argentine after 2 rounds.

“Honestly, I wasn’t too focused on the open scorecards,” said Lee immediately after the bout.  “I primarily focused on improving each round, one at a time until the fight was over.”

Indeed, the 25-year-old Yonkers, NY native and his corner kept cool throughout the contest, despite having a last-minute opponent named when original foe Eduardo Santiago encountered difficulties getting to Riyadh.

“I didn’t really pay too much attention to the opponent change,” said Lee. “I knew at the end of the day we still had to take care of business regardless of who’s in front of us, and that’s why we trained for any style.”

However, the 4-0 Albornoz, who fought his last 2 bouts in South Africa after beginning his career in Argentina, did surprise Lee with his pressure.

“I was a bit surprised because from film and from what we were told, he supposedly tends to move around the ring more,” admitted Lee.  “But we made the necessary adjustments and got the win.”

Having won the first round of the tournament, Team Lee now has several weeks to prepare for the next phase, a showdown with Mexico’s Angel Sauceda Hinojosa in June.  The 22-year-old Hinojosa improved to 12-0 (5) in phase 1 with a unanimous decision win over Maikel Ordosgoitti of Venezuela.

“I know my potential is way higher than what I showed tonight, so I’m going back to drawing board to put on a great performance in June,” stated Lee. “Overall, it was a great experience, and I’ll feel a lot better come June now that I got my feet wet.”

For more information on CES Boxing events, visit cesfights.com.

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About CES Boxing

CES Boxing is one of the top promotions on the East Coast.  Founded in 1992 by Jimmy Burchfield Sr., CES Boxing has promoted many world class fighters, including Jamaine Ortiz, Juiseppe Cusumano, Hank Lundy, Vinny Paz, Peter Manfredo, Mariusz Wach, Jason Estrada, Matt Godfrey, Chad Dawson and Ray Oliveira. CES Boxing has promoted such super fights as “The Thriller on Triller: Tyson v Jones Jr.”, “Mayweather vs. Gotti III” and “The Contender: Manfredo v Pemberton”.