Confident Lee puts hand injury in past

It took Mike Lee six rounds to make sure he could punch with his right hand again.

The unbeaten light heavyweight from Chicago tore a tendon in the hand in December and had surgery in late January, sidelining him until June 8. That night, Lee scored a six-round unanimous decision over Eliseo Durazo at the Hard Rock Hotel, emerging with his hand intact and his confidence restored.

"I cleared a mental barrier with that fight," Lee said. "I was a little more tentative because of the hand. But it felt great after the fight, and I know I can use the right hand and not have to worry about it."

Lee (9-0, five knockouts) is scheduled to return to the ring Aug. 4 at Texas Station against veteran Tyler Seever (13-11-1, 11 KOs) on the undercard of the NABF super featherweight title bout between champion Diego Magdaleno of Las Vegas and Antonio Davis.

"I want to keep moving forward," Lee said. "Now that the injury is behind me and I proved to myself I can fight after being hurt, it shouldn't be a problem."

Lee's most recent knockout does not appear on his record. Appearing Saturday on NBC sports comedy series "Training for Tahoe," Lee knocks out host Brian Baumgartner at the end of a skit.

"It was my first chance to act, and it's something I'd like to do more of," Lee said. "I had a lot of fun, and Lake Tahoe is a beautiful place."

Lee also appeared Thursday on "NBC SportsTalk" on NBC Sports Network, on which he spoke about his role as a spokesman for Subway sandwiches. He said the increased national exposure puts added pressure on him to perform in the ring.

"I thrive on it," he said. "All it does is make me want to work that much harder because I know you can lose it just as quickly as you earned it."

■ RATHER 1-0 AS PRO - Las Vegas heavyweight Brett Rather made a successful professional debut Friday, beating Terrell Woods by unanimous decision in a four-round fight at Edgewater Casino Resort in Laughlin.

Rather, a former collegiate champion at UNLV, won by scores of 40-36, 40-36 and 39-36. He said the excitement was unlike anything he had experienced.

"Everything moves so much faster," Rather said. "It's totally different from the amateurs.

"I was trying to relax and take my time, but I think I got caught up in the excitement and I didn't transfer everything I was doing in the gym to the fight, which is something I need to learn to do."

With that in mind, Rather said he's not going to rush into his local debut. Instead of fighting as originally planned on Top Rank's Aug. 4 card at Texas Station, he likely will appear Sept. 13 on a Top Rank card at the Hard Rock Hotel.

"I don't want to rush right back," Rather said. "I need this fight to see what I did and work on some things."

■ CANELO-LOPEZ TICKETS - Tickets are on sale for the Sept. 15 Golden Boy Promotions card at the MGM Grand Garden, featuring Saul "Canelo" Alvarez defending his WBC junior middleweight title against Josesito Lopez.

Two excellent matchups are on the undercard. Jhonny Gonzalez defends his WBC featherweight belt against Daniel Ponce De Leon in a 12-round bout, and junior welterweights Marcos Maidana and Jesus Soto-Karass meet in a 10-rounder.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.