BELFAST – You could have heard a pin drop, and it might be the only time this week one can say that.

Promoter Eddie Hearn, at the pre-fight press conference, asked the hundreds of fans in attendance at the Europa Hotel who was backing which fighter in Saturday’s main event.

“Who here wants Paddy Donovan to win?” shouted Hearn, flanked by both fighters at the top table, rallying the Limerick troops.

No one expected complete silence.

Hearn, clearly taken aback, wasn’t ready for that.

“Alright, who is here for Lewis Crocker?”

The room started to shake with the noise.

Crocker’s coach, Billy Nelson, sighed afterwards: “It was funny but, on the other hand, it must have made Paddy feel like shit, which isn’t nice.”

Saturday won’t be quite the same – the press conference will count for nothing at the SSE Arena when Donovan and Nelson stare at one another from across the ring with the electric atmosphere fizzing all around them.

Donovan believes he has “thousands” coming to support him at the 8,000 sell-out, but the lion’s share will be cheering for Crocker. 

Initially, the arena was going to be open for just 4,000 because of an event the next day. But after tickets flew out, Matchroom went back to the venue and were given another 1,000, then another 500. The next thing they knew, the whole arena was theirs and this week the final tickets were sold.

“I can’t believe we’ve sold the whole place,” said Hearn. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s a tremendous fight, but it’s not like it’s [Carl] Frampton… These are two fighters that are building their status. But people have just got on board with the narrative. There’s also a great undercard. I think over here, when you have a good night, they're knowledgeable enough to acknowledge that and come.”

Frampton himself agrees with that sentiment and believes the bill has got the whole city talking.

“First of all, I think Belfast fight fans are quite discerning,” said the former two-weight world champion. “They know what they’re watching and they love boxing in this city and they’ll not go out and watch just any old tripe, but they see this is a great show that is well matched throughout the bill, good competitive fights and they’re coming out in force. I don’t think there’s been a crowd in the Odyssey – not to do Mick Conlan a disservice – but I don’t think there’s been a crowd of this size in the Odyssey since my fights, so the fans are kind of starved for top quality fights, and they’ll come out and support. 

“They understand that there’s a rivalry. North v South. It’s not protestant-catholic which it so easily could have been. Lewis Crocker, although from a staunchly loyalist area in Sandy Row, he was proud, like myself, to represent Ireland, but he also boxed for a club in the nationalist west Belfast in Holy Trinity, so he’ll have people from both sides coming out to support him.”

Donovan believes he will have fight fans from both sides of the border, too, even if the expectation is that it will be pro-Crocker.

It is the type of event that generates buzz from the barbershops to the taxi ranks and from the cafes to the bars. Momentum has grown, even with the distraction of the Chris Eubank-Conor Benn shenanigans demanding more column inches.

This has fight fans salivating for the right reasons.

“There’s a wholesomeness about the bill,” said cruiserweight Tommy McCarthy, ahead of his crucial clash with his friend and fellow Belfast-man Steven Ward. “The top of the card, Lewis and Paddy, an all-Irish clash, North v South, so that always gets the Irish people going. Me and Steven Ward, all-Belfast clash. And we’re from different parts, I’m from the west, he’s kind of north, but that city rivalry, and people are buzzing for it. It’s people who they know on both sides. People don’t like watching boxing going, ‘Right, Tommy McCarthy is fighting Enrique Iglesiais.’ This is, ‘Tommy McCarthy is fighting the fella from up the road. Fuck, we’re going to have to see that.’
“Lewis [Crocker] is a big name now, so the stage is set for Lewis to take over from where Carl Frampton left off, to be that new star of Belfast boxing, so everyone’s getting behind him. “There hasn’t been a big night like this for a long time. Everyone’s buzzing. Everyone thought it was over and now it’s back.”

Of course, the fortunes for this famous old fight city will be directly enhanced should Crocker win. If Donovan is victorious, it will be south of the border that will likely see the upside.

But Crocker is drawing a crowd regardless. Belfast fans are attracted to his high-octane approach in the ring and his high-octane energy levels outside.

“Crocker’s quite lively,” smiled Hearn. “Paddy’s got a lot to say for himself, everything’s just gelled. Eight thousand tickets. You don’t see many shows selling that amount of tickets these days away from the AJs, Benn-Eubank and that kind of stuff.” 

For promoter and manager – and former fighter – Jamie Conlan, it is down to the chemistry between the main eventers, but also through the bill.

“I think it’s the prospects, it’s the light heavyweight fight with Poddy [McCrory-Craig Richards], it’s the cruiserweights [McCarthy-Ward], and it’s the main event. I think from the main portion of the card, you can say every fight is a make or break,” Conlan said. “I think everyone thinks a loss is the end of their career, but in a few instances here, it is. Craig Richards, Poddy McCrory, whoever loses potentially is in no man’s land. Same with McCarthy, Stevie Ward, whoever loses is in no man’s land. 

“And then you have prospects making that step into the next level with Kurt Walker [against Leon Woodstock] and Paddy Donovan potentially in their toughest fights of their careers and the big opportunities for them. 

“But the main event alone has captured the Irish imagination. For years there were sparring stories of how good Paddy Donovan was. People had seen him on the Irish shows. The quality was speaking beyond what you’d seen in the ring. You’d seen it in the sparring, people were talking. Lewis Crocker has been knocking people out and down since he was 14, 15. So they’ve always carried this persona and aura. Now, when you combine them, the juices are flowing for the people. And then it started the question, is it too soon? But when you get a world title eliminator, both undefeated records, able to headline, the first time really to carry a full big show, it makes it the perfect timing.”

Light heavyweight McCrory was out selling some of his 450 tickets during some evenings of fight week. Many on the undercard have ably supported Crocker-Donovan. 

Donovan reckons he’s sold around 1,000. McCrory has dispatched 450. Ward has done a few hundred, Aaron Bowen has done 200, Jack O’Neil has done 400. McCarthy is likely in the hundreds.

“When you go on sale with boxing, generally I would say 70 per cent of tickets are sold via the fighters for a standard show, and the rest are sold by the box office,” Hearn explained. “This time, it’s probably 60 per cent sold by the box office and 40 per cent by the fighters. “That’s when you know you’ve got a bigger show, because people are going direct to the arena and it’s more of a casual fanbase than just the hardcore buying out of hands. Crocker’s done a huge amount of tickets, personally, as he does. Paddy would have done 3-400 just out of hand. But, say we’ve done 5,000 on the box office, how many are coming up from the south? I’d say, realistically, 10-15 per cent. Maybe a little bit more. I reckon there will be a thousand in the arena who are Paddy Donovan fans.”

That means it is different to what the Irish fans have been accustomed to. When Frampton was headlining, he was boxing the likes of Nonito Donaire, Kiko Martinez and Hugo Cazares. 

It was 8,000 Irishmen against a small team of visitors. Here, Donovan’s fans will be extremely noisy neighbours, with their respective support groups made up of family members, friends, friends of friends. They all want in on Saturday night.

“I’m gutted I’m not going to be at it,” said Frampton, who will be in Bournemouth working for TNT Sports. “Everyone I know is going to be there, apart from me. I know this fight’s a big fight and one of the reasons I know this is my wife has been uninterested in boxing since I retired, but she’s going with my daughter, which to me suggests that if she’s making the trip to Odyssey to watch it, it’s a big show.”

Hearn believes it could be one of the best atmospheres he has ever promoted. Having sold out, the demand for tickets is still high.

“It’s nearly an hourly thing that people are looking for tickets,” said McCrory. “And the buzz is real. And speaking to the local taxi men and stuff, they all know what's happening.”

Conlan said the rivalry had come from “almost out of nowhere” to being the fight the nation wanted to see and he thinks the atmosphere, and how the fighters react to it, could dictate the outcome.

Crocker and Donovan were both good amateurs. Donovan had a golden boy-type reputation for his ability while Crocker got his for knocking kids flat as a teenager.

“It’s a genuine 50-50,” Conlan added. “I think both guys can knock each other out. Both guys can outbox each other. Both guys can in-fight and out-fight. There’s so many different ways that this can go. This is the first time people are going to be cheering when Paddy Donovan gets hit. How does he react when the crowd uproar when he gets hit on the arms and he’s going, ‘It didn't hurt me.’ Does machismo come in? Things like that I think will play a factor in the fight.”

For another Irish champion of recent times, Ryan Burnett, it is the stakes of the main event – being an IBF welterweight title eliminator – that adds to the enticing natures of the show.

“They’re both about to break into life-changing fights,” said the former unified junior featherweight champion. “I think the pressure’s on both of them, but I think that itself makes for a great fight. We’ve not seen either fighter at this type of level before, so it’s good to see what attitude and mentality both lads bring on the night.”

The unknown and the lack of predictability to a sporting event adds to its allure. Compelling cases can be made to pick either fighter and Conlan – who works with Crocker – said the fight, for Donovan specifically, is “the big unknown.”

It also sees boxing return to one of its traditional strongholds. 

With so many big fights heading to Saudi Arabia, and in the aftermath of MGM/MTK – a dark era for boxing – there’s a positivity attached to Crocker-Donovan that has filtered through the city.

“We love it, especially coming off the back of Riyadh Season which is obviously all hype at the moment and it is amazing, that the world can see our event on Saturday and that atmosphere and those people can say, ‘Wow, there is a world outside of Riyadh Season for boxing, and boxing is booming,” said Hearn. “And one of the reasons I think boxing is booming is because of Riyadh Season. I think people are watching great fights and fans have got the bit between their teeth for boxing again.”

In essence, for Andy Lee – Donovan’s coach – it’s about the fight.

“They’re very good fighters, aren’t they?” said Lee. “And they have big fanbases, passionate fanbases, and Paddy has a great following, Lewis has a great following in Belfast, and this fight’s been on the cards for a while. A lot of people didn’t think it was going to happen, but now it is, it’s here and it’s a treat.”

That moment of silence that came to kick-off the pre-fight press conference will long be forgotten on Saturday night when the Belfast crowd spills out onto the streets of the city. By that point, their ears will be longing for that peace that they had momentarily felt on Wednesday, but the buzz from this fight night could long remain.