BELFAST – Promoter Eddie Hearn was last night caught in a crossfire, but came out admitting he felt it was only fair that Paddy Donovan landed a rematch with Lewis Crocker.

Donovan was on top in their hotly-anticipated fight and he had floored Crocker in the eighth before nailing him moments after the bell to end the fight having been penalized for a third time.

Hearn tried to unpack the mayhem straight afterwards. 

“There are a lot of mixed opinions. In an isolated incident, and as a culmination of things,” Hearn explained of the finale. “When that punch lands after the bell – and it was after the bell – it was very close to after the bell but it was after the bell. I will acknowledge Andy [Lee]’s point about when he [Donovan] was going for the finish and the ref hears the 10 seconds, ‘Bang,’ be there, to be close to the action, so when the bell goes you step in. There’s so much noise going on, but in that instance, it’s not easy always to hear the bell.” 

Donovan had lost points for using his elbow and his head, but many felt Crocker had been as culpable for heads coming together frequently as the Limerick man. But Crocker avoided warnings from referee Marcus McDonnell, who admonished Donovan as early as round one.
“Regarding the heads, I think there were use of the heads some times,” said Hearn. “Both guys were leading in with heads a lot of the time. I think one of them [the rulings] was very harsh on Paddy, another time he did lean in with his head. It wasn’t the cleanest of fights at times, but I have to be honest, when the punch landed after the bell, I expected the ref to say, ‘Okay, this is an isolated incident. I’m going to give you time now, to recover and everything.’ That’s what I thought he was doing. He went over to Lewis. He helped him to get up. Then I thought he was going to decide what to do and give him time to recover to restart the fight, but what he did was give an instant disqualification. 

“I feel like, in these instances, the referee should come and talk to the media. I really feel like there should be an explanation why he feels that was a disqualification. I think, honestly, it’s a very mixed reaction. Some people think he should have been disqualified, other people think he shouldn’t have been disqualified, but I think the fouls in the fight are something we have to look back on, because it was that kind of fight.” 

Hearn, like the 8,000 in the venue, had been impressed with Donovan. He was in charge and Crocker’s time was nearly up in the fight. That was Hearn’s belief, too.

“Unfortunately, for Paddy, it was when the fight was nearly over and it was the shot that dropped him [Crocker],” added Hearn. “All the things couldn’t have gone really worse. If he doesn’t get dropped there, if he hits him on the gloves… In another world, who knows? He [Donovan] boxed out of his skin. He was winning the fight comfortably. He was on his way to winning the fight. Unfortunately, he did land a shot after the bell in the heat of the moment when you can’t really hear things.” 

Hearn, who works with both fighters, said beforehand that the winner would get their IBF title fight likely at home, with Donovan boxing in Limerick and Crocker back in Belfast – in anticipation of Jaron Ennis at some point relinquishing his title. As it stands, he will have to wait to see what the IBF decides to do with Team Donovan’s appeal.

“It’s difficult for me because I’ve got both fighters,” said Hearn. “I’ve got [Crocker’s coach] Billy Nelson shouting at me saying I’m bias to Paddy Donovan, then I’ve got Paddy Donovan before the fight thinking, ‘Eddie Hearn has brought me to Belfast.’ You can’t win. 

“Would I like to see a rematch? Yes. Would I be trying to make a massive rematch in the summer? Yes. If I was Billy Nelson and Lewis Crocker, would I take the rematch? I don’t know. 

“There’s going to be a lot of pressure on Lewis Crocker to take the rematch. When the dust settles and you realize how big the rematch is, financially, you realize that the IBF might say, ‘Tough shit, you’ve got to do it.’”

Hearn was then asked whether there was any way that he could see Donovan and Crocker fight for the vacant IBF title. Incumbent champion Ennis is bidding to unify on April 12 against WBA ruler Eimantas Stanionis in Atlantic City, but Hearn has long said Boots will be moving north to 154 sooner than later. 

“That’s a very good point, and that would probably be the icing on the cake, if there was a vacant title on the line,” Hearn said of a possible rematch.

“He [Crocker] may take the rematch. He may feel under pressure, ‘no I want to prove myself, I didn’t perform tonight, all my fans want to see the rematch…’ I would say, financially the rematch with Paddy Donovan is bigger than a fight with Jaron Ennis. There you go. That’s how big this rematch would be.”