Paddy Donovan doesn’t have ‘the minerals’ to fight in the trenches, according to Lewis Crocker’s coach

Halfway through discussing Lewis Crocker’s fight this Saturday against Paddy Donovan, Crocker’s coach, Billy Nelson, recalls the night Alex Arthur lost his unbeaten record against Michael Gomez in 2003. It is a fight relevant not because Nelson was training Arthur at that time – he wasn’t – but more because Arthur discovered in Gomez an opponent he didn’t understand, one who showed Arthur sides of the sport from which Arthur had until then been protected.

“I remember that fight,” says Nelson. “Alex had left us by that time, but he was intimidated by Michael Gomez, 100 per cent. He was intimidated from the moment he [Gomez] got in the ring and put his head on him before the fight. The look on his face was, ‘You’re not meant to do that. I’m the superstar here.’ He wasn’t used to getting that sort of reaction.”

Arthur, despite being a big pre-fight favourite, was ultimately bullied by Gomez from the outset before being put out of his misery in round five. It was, at the time, one of the biggest upsets of that year, certainly in Britain, and, for Arthur, the harshest of lessons.

As for why it happened, opinion was split. Some said Gomez was simply inspired and fought the fight of his life, whereas others suggested Arthur, the golden boy of Scottish boxing, was complacent, or just not equipped for Gomez’s intensity and approach. 

Either way, it is not an uncommon story in boxing, the prospect finding themselves in too deep. Indeed, it is this very story Nelson expects to see unfold when his man, Lewis Crocker, fights Paddy Donovan in Belfast this Saturday. There might be differences in the telling of it, of course, but he believes the result will still be the same. 

“If you look at his [Donovan’s] resume, he’s fought absolutely nobody apart from Lewis Ritson, who I used to train and was a standout lightweight, not a welterweight,” says Nelson. “Paddy also drew a comparison with Jose Felix [a Crocker opponent]. But Jose Felix was really a light-welterweight who Lewis Crocker dismantled in four rounds. Paddy Donovan stopped Ritson in nine. It was actually quite a boring fight to watch. I was there live watching it. Lewis had a destructive performance against a lighter guy, whereas Paddy, who thinks he punches harder than Lewis, took nine rounds to get Ritson out of there.”

The question of power was a feature of the first press conference to announce Saturday’s fight. Donovan, from Limerick, stated his case for being the bigger puncher, and Crocker, from Belfast, offered his case as well. In the end, without any real proof, there was a stalemate that afternoon; an agreement to disagree; an agreement to wait and see.

“He [Crocker] most definitely has the edge in power,” says Nelson. “I was dumbfounded that they even argued about it. The percentages might say Paddy Donovan, but look at who he has fought to get that knockout percentage. There’s no comparison whatsoever in my mind. Lewis hits harder and has fought better opponents.

“He [Crocker] also has experience on his side. He’s had six more fights than Paddy as a pro but, not only that, he has been fighting better opposition than Paddy. I couldn’t name you an opponent of Paddy Donovan other than Ritson. I know for a fact that Lewis Crocker is a more rounded professional boxer than Paddy Donovan. 

“I think Paddy is in for a rude awakening in this fight, to be honest with you. Andy Lee [Donovan’s coach] is a good friend of mine, but to call him [Donovan] a ‘generational great’ is way, way over the top at this stage. 

“I’m not sitting here saying Paddy Donovan is not a good fighter. Paddy Donovan is a good fighter. But I think Lewis Crocker is a better fighter.”

If the element of surprise was what got to Alex Arthur in 2003, Nelson expects to witness something similar between Crocker, 20-0 (11), and Donovan, 14-0 (11), on Saturday. Given what he feels is a gulf in experience between the two welterweights, there is, he feels, a greater chance that Donovan will be the one introduced to new feelings and new problems than Crocker. 

“I know exactly how Paddy Donovan is going to fight,” Nelson says. “The best way to find out how Paddy fights is by watching Andy Lee. He teaches him what he knows. But, as a coach, you need to adapt to the fighter’s strengths and weaknesses. You couldn’t take Mike Tyson and turn him into an out-and-out boxer, could you? You need to work on his strengths and work on what you class as his weaknesses. 

“Paddy has never been in the trenches and he is 100 per cent going to be in the trenches in this fight. We’ll see what he’s got. I don’t think he’s got the minerals. 

“Is it too soon for Paddy? I think it is.”