Lee was born and raised in Yuba City, California to a North Korean-born father and a Mexican mother. He lived there for about 12 years and then moved to the Coachella Valley. He attended La Quinta High School,[4] and played soccer and ran track as a youngster.[5] Lee faced racial prejudice growing up because of his Korean descent: he says other people would "stereotype a lot and look at my eyes and think Chinese", and "people thought that because I was Asian that I couldn't fight. We would come down to Southern California and they would say, “We want the little Chinito” which meant they wanted the “Chinese” kid".[5]
Amateur career
Lee started boxing at around six years old,[6] and had his first amateur fight at age eight.[5] He won four Junior Golden Gloves Championships, the Junior Silver Gloves three times and the Junior PAL five times. He was due to represent the U.S. in Saint Petersburg, Russia, but his parents refused to let him skip school in order to participate.[7] Lee amassed an impressive amateur record of 181–9.[8]
Professional career
Lee signed a professional contract with manager Cameron Dunkin in the fall of 2016 and debuted shortly afterward at age 17 the next year while he was still in high school.[7] He has been trained by his father Bobby Lee "since day one".[5][7] After compiling a perfect 21–0 record, he captured the vacant IBO Inter-Continental super lightweight title on March 10, 2021, when he defeated Samuel Teah (17–3–1) by third-round knockout at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.[8]
In his next fight, Lee fought for the first time professionally in his home state of California, against Ezequiel Victor Fernandez (28–4–1) on the undercard of John Riel Casimero vs. Guillermo Rigondeaux on August 14, 2021. Lee made quick work of his opponent, knocking Fernandez down 3 times in the first 100 seconds of the fight. The fight was waved off after the third knockdown, extending Lee's consecutive knockout victory streak to fourteen in a row.[9]
Personal life
Lee was named after Bruce Lee's son, Brandon Lee, because his father was a fan of the martial artist.[5] He has one older brother, whom he calls his "role model".[5][6]
He is largely a monolingual English speaker, stating that he does not speak Korean. Regarding his Spanish proficiency, he admits that he "can't carry on a conversation but I can speak some words here and there".[5]
