BELFAST – Trainer Billy Nelson was in the dressing room with Lewis Crocker in March, hours before his charge’s fight with Paddy Donovan at the SSE Arena, when he realised things were not right.
“I knew there was something the matter in the changing room,” Nelson said. “We only warmed up for seven minutes because of the way he felt. Obviously, we would warm up for about half an hour before it, or longer. And then he told me the next day what was the matter.”
Nelson has not subsequently divulged the reason, but reflecting on that night and the one-sided nature of the contest, he added: “He was fucked. He was about 40 per cent of Lewis Crocker, getting into the ring. That’s why it’s so frustrating listening to all this shite from Paddy Donovan thinking he’s a generational great. Listen, you’ll see a big difference on Saturday night, that’s all I’m gonna say. As long as Lewis is 100 per cent, I believe he wins the fight, and a good fight.
“Lewis is looking exceptionally good. Exceptionally good in the gym. Same as the last time – however, the day of the fight Lewis picked up something and it affected his performance massively. You’ll see him completely different for this.”
It was the next morning when Nelson found out what was wrong.
“Boxers are very stubborn – they keep things from you, you know what I mean? He may have thought ‘I’ll be alright’, but clearly he wasn’t gonna be.”
Asked whether the fight would have gone ahead had Nelson known what was wrong, the trainer said: “Probably not, no. Given the circumstances of the first fight, you cannot really go with the first fight, let’s be honest. I mean, he got outboxed. He most certainly got out-fouled. Paddy was probably the dirtiest fighter I’ve ever faced in a professional boxing ring in about 250 fights now. Eleven times he headbutted Lewis. Four times he got warned by the ref; twice he got points took off him. The elbow, which went unpenalized – and nobody’s ever mentioned it – was worthy of a disqualification in itself, because that was just terrible, and then the punches after the bell. Why does he feel sorry for himself?”
Nelson said training for the first fight was just fine, everything went wrong at the end.
“We had a fantastic camp,” Nelson said. “We were sparring Josh Kelly, who is a much better fighter than Paddy Donovan. Josh Kelly thought [Crocker] was looking magnificent – which he was. You know what it was? If it wasn’t for bad luck, we’d have had no luck that day. Knowing what happened to [Crocker] on the day of the fight happened to him – he got 23 stitches, and three cuts, and six stitches internally. You know what I mean? Fucking terrible.
“He’s more motivated. I can see it in him. Because it’s for the world title, of course.”
He has also had the opportunity to learn about what Donovan can do, albeit the hard way.
“Oh, 100 per cent,” Nelson continued. “He knows exactly what he’s got to do. He’s told me on many, many occasions, he’s said, ‘I’ve seen so many things and my body wouldn’t let me do it’. Let’s put it this way, over in Dubai, he’s been sparring fighters that’s better than Paddy. You ask him if that’s the same Crocker that faced Paddy the first time.
“He’s very intelligent person. He’s never been beat by an Irish boxer, as far as I’m aware. As an amateur, I think he had 110 fights and won 102; 101; something like that. He’s got the quickest knockout in amateur history in Ireland.”
Nelson also believes that, because of his success in the first fight, Donovan is taking victory for granted on Saturday when they fight once more – this time for the vacant IBF welterweight title – and that Crocker is being underestimated.
“One hundred per cent he is – and that’s okay,” Nelson said. “When Lewis lands flush on him, the realisation is gonna take him to a different level – if he’s still conscious.”
