Mannion Pounds Out a Unanimous Decision Over Lee

Bert Lee fought the best fight of his life and still lost.

Lee, who lives in Riverside, works in Anaheim, and trains in Westminster, was hoping Monday’s fight against Sean Mannion of Ireland would be a step toward bigger payoffs in the future.

Instead, Lee is left to ponder an uncertain future, one clouded by the loss of a unanimous 10-round decision to Mannion in front of 1,621 fans at the Marriott Hotel in Irvine.

The sellout crowd witnessed aggressive and smart boxing at its best between Mannion and Lee and rewarded the pair with a standing ovation for their efforts.

“Who shot me?” a dazed Lee asked after the fight.

For the record, it was the constant left jabs of Mannion, who came from behind in the last four rounds to take the decision from Lee.

“It was tough fight, but I thought that maybe in the last two rounds when Mannion came on is when we lost it,” Lee’s trainer, Mack Kurihara said.

The fighters, who both weighed in at 159 pounds for the middleweight bout, were similar physically, but each used different fight strategies.

Mannion played a hide-and-seek defense for six rounds, when he covered up and avoided or deflected many of Lee’s best shots, and then used his conserved energy in the last four rounds to make his move.

Both fighters landed solid jabs throughout the night but neither could muster a definitive strike to put the other away.

“It was a great workout,” said Lee, who is undecided about his future as a boxer.

Kurihara remained optimistic. “Bert showed a lot of heart out there tonight,” he said, “and people with heart go places in this sport.”

On the undercard, the much heralded debut of the Weaver triplets of Pomona came off with a dud as Lloyd Weaver backed out of his scheduled fight and his two brothers didn’t win.

Floyd Weaver earned a draw with Roderick Sparks of Cypress and Troy Weaver lost a split decision to Frank Martinez of San Gabriel.

The expected matchup of the triplets and the main bout drew the Weavers’ brother Mike, mother Juanita, former welterweight champion Carlos Palomino, and Los Angeles Rams’ Eric Dickerson, Jackie Slater, and David Hill to ringside.