MANNHEIM, Germany – “Smash and grab, one out of one. Two out of two incoming tomorrow,” smiled promoter Eddie Hearn having seen his fighter, Paddy Donovan win on an away show in Germany.
After two hours' sleep, Hearn was on his way to England to watch his heavyweight, Dave Allen, take on Filip Hrgovic, on a Queensberry Promotions bill.
But focusing on Donovan, Hearn said: “It was a fantastic performance. I thought he won pretty comfortably with the knockdowns [in rounds six and eight]. I thought the draw was wild on [one of] the scorecards, but had him winning the fight 7-5 with two knockdowns, personally. But you know, even if he gave it 6-6, which I thought was quite generous, 114--112. It’s a massive win. Definitely [Donovan’s] career wasn’t on the line, but world title ambitions were on the line and it was a great performance.”
Donovan is now the mandatory challenger to face the winner of the June fight between his old rival, Lewis Crocker, and Liam Paro.
Hearn said Donovan could be expected to fight again in September or October, and that would not line up with being on the card that he hopes to stage at Croke Park, headlined by Katie Taylor.
“It's a bit big, that [trilogy] fight, to go on an undercard,” Hearn said. “I mean, that’s a fight that just did 19,000 at [Windsor Park] Belfast before.”
He thinks Donovan’s world title opportunity would happen either at the end of the year or the stay of 2027.
“But the great news with the IBF is Paddy’s got his shot,” Hearn added. “No one will take it away from him. And that was a massive win for him tonight.”
Asked whether a third loss in a row could have spelled the end of Matchroom’s relationship with Donovan, Hearn shrugged it off and was for more interested to walk about future plans than what might have been had Donovan lost to Karen Chukhadzhian at the SAP Arena.
“Paddy’s a quality fighter. And don’t forget the losses,” Hearn explained. “I mean, the first fight he was winning comfortably, he made a silly mistake [and got disqualified]. The second fight could have gone either way. And the third fight, he’s just come over to Germany in his [Chukhadzhian’s] backyard. I mean, it’s not like they’re not easy fights. They’re all world level fights. And that guy [Chukhadzhian]’s a good fighter. I saw that when he fought Boots [Ennis]. He’s no mug at all. And that was that was a really big win and a big statement as well.”
Hearn believes it was the best performance of Donovan’s career, particularly given the circumstances. The Limerick man ringwalked at around 1am and did so in an arena that had emptied after the heavyweights on the bill had concluded their business.
Hearn felt Donovan had won the fight after eight rounds, with the two knockdowns under his belt, and he agreed that Donovan stayed on the inside too long in the later rounds.
“I don’t know why he did that, really,” said Hearn.
“I think he just wanted to try and mix it up a little bit. I mean, he did give away probably the last three rounds or something like that, and that's what I gave him [the opponent].
“I scored it seven, five myself in the rounds, but it’s irrelevant. But he [Donovan] mixed it up well. When he boxed long off the back foot, he boxed beautifully.”
