The island’s first all-Irish world-title fight is finally set. On 13 September Belfast’s Lewis Crocker and Limerick southpaw Paddy Donovan reprise their bad-blood thriller, this time with the vacant IBF welterweight belt on the line before 18,500 at Windsor Park and a global DAZN audience.
Their first encounter in March crackled until disaster struck: Donovan, two points up on every card, was disqualified for drilling Crocker a split-second after the eighth-round bell. An appeal earned “The Real Deal” an immediate rematch, but Jaron Ennis’ move to 154 lbs elevated the bout from eliminator to title fight—transforming unfinished business into Irish boxing history.
Watch Crocker vs. Donovan highlights: Watch
Crocker, a lifelong Linfield supporter who lives within walking distance of the stadium, relishes the home-turf cauldron. He insists the controversy merely delayed his coronation and vows to “silence the doubters” with a definitive finish. Donovan counters that he will “repeat another stellar performance, set the record straight and come home with a world title,” banking on the slick movement and rapier counters that had Crocker chasing shadows before chaos intervened.
Promoter Eddie Hearn predicts a sell-out and “one of the best atmospheres Irish boxing has ever seen,” the venue’s first fight night since Carl Frampton’s 2018 homecoming. For Crocker, it is childhood dream writ large; for Donovan, redemption wrapped in red, white and green. For the sport, it is a moment that folds decades of cross-border rivalry into one September night when the winners’ anthem will be sung in the open Belfast air and a new world champion will stride from the ring draped in Irish colours - north or south.
Fight card:
▪️Lewis Crocker vs. Paddy Donovan, 12 rounds, for the vacant IBF World welterweight title
▪️Ishmael Davis vs. Caoimhin Agyarko, 12 rounds, super welterweight
▪️Tyrone McKenna vs. Dylan Moran, 10 rounds, welterweight
