Lee represented Ireland at the 2002 World Junior championships in Santiago de Cuba, competing in the middleweight category. It was with Booth that Lee won the WBO belt in 2014, becoming the first Irish boxer to win a world title on American soil since 1934. Following his death, Lee moved back to London where he joined up with English trainer Adam Booth. He then moved to Detroit, Michigan where he lived with his longtime manager and trainer until Steward died in 2012. Lee signed his first professional contract with Manny Steward in 2005.
