Paddy Donovan predicting knockout of Lewis Crocker

Paddy Donovan faces the biggest night of his boxing life on Saturday, knowing he is one win away from a world-title shot.

He meets fellow Irishman Lewis Crocker in a mouth-watering welterweight clash, with an opportunity to take on champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis at stake at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The fight will likely play out with a memorable atmosphere as a backdrop, with Limerick’s 14-0 (11 KOs) Donovan and Belfast’s heavy-handed Crocker ready for their biggest tests.

“The Irish boxing scene has been starved for many years, especially down south,” said Donovan. “My goal is now to lead the way and lift the sport to another level. I believe I’m the fighter and the face of Irish boxing. I’m the person to do it.

“This is one of the best fights ever in Ireland. There’s more on the line than there ever has been before. This is the fight that the Irish fans demanded. It’s the pride of Ireland, who steps up into the limelight. Who gets the throne; puts their hand on the crown. I’m the better boxer. More skilful; punches just as hard. I’ve 80 per cent knockout ratio and he’s 50 per cent.

“Anyone that has shared the ring with me knows exactly how hard I punch. Maybe Lewis is underestimating my power, but he’ll soon find out. I’m the boxer. Too slick. Too skilful. Too good. I win this fight by knockout. I believe I knock him out with a well-timed punch. It’ll be to the body or to the head. I think he’ll get careless, and he’ll walk on to a shot. I believe his lights will go out. I’ll turn them out.”

The gym Donovan trains out of has significant momentum, as show by heavyweight contender Joseph Parker wiping out Martin Bakole in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on February 22.

In that respect, this fight pits the trainer of Donovan and Parker – Andy Lee – against the trainer of Bakole and Crocker, Billy Nelson.

“I’m surrounded by some of the best people in the world; Andy Lee, Joseph Parker and my father,” said Donovan. “This is a winning team and we come from a winning mentality. I’ve visualised it so many times. I’ve dreamt about it so many times. I’ve lived the fight so many times in my head.

“I can’t see Lewis beating me on the night. I don’t know how he is approaching this fight, to come in and fight or slug it out – I’m not sure. I just don’t see how he can beat me. I think I have the assets to beat him. It’s the best fight, one of the best fights ever in Ireland. It puts us in the best position to fight for the IBF world championship. There’s no other route that was more exciting or more potentially bigger than this. Being an Irish clash, being here in Ireland, it just had the ring of being something special.”

Incidentally, Ennis fights the WBA champion Eimantas Stanionis, of Lithuania, at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall on April 12.