Lewis Crocker v Paddy Donovan: Belfast fighter awarded wins chaotic fight via disqualification

A dramatic night in Belfast culminated in chaotic scenes. Lewis Crocker was awarded the win in an IBF world title eliminator bout after his opponent, Paddy Donovan, was disqualified at the end of the eighth round.

Crocker maintained his undefeated professional record as referee Marcus McDonnell brought the thrilling contest to a close due to Donovan landing a heavy blow after the bell had sounded. Just before the abrupt ending, Limerick fighter Donovan had just knocked Crocker down with a powerful punch.

Earlier, Donovan had been deducted points in the sixth and eighth rounds for using his elbow and head. The dramatic conclusion led to confusion, with Donovan initially believing he had secured a knockout victory before realizing McDonnell had disqualified him.

Speaking to DAZN, Donovan said: "The crowd here is very passionate. They say I hit him after the bell, but I thought I hit him on the bell. You could see Lewis was a beaten man, and I won that fight fair and square. The referee has robbed me of my dream tonight." Donovan added, "We will be appealing this decision, and I want an immediate rematch."

From the start, Belfast fighter Crocker was mostly on the front foot, hands held high and tight, elbows tucked in, while southpaw Donovan looked for space to unleash his fast hands, with the latter being the busier of the two. The second round began to open up, with both men landing inside, but Crocker was more measured, seemingly determined not to waste anything, but that allowed Donovan into the fight, although he had to keep working. In the third round, Crocker sustained a cut above his right eye, with referee McDonnell signaling it was caused by a punch, in what was a tough battle with the boxers trading at close quarters.

Donovan seemed to be targeting the body, while Crocker began to use the uppercut, but by the end of the fourth round, he had a large swelling under his left eye. There were clear signs that ‘The Real Deal’ was getting through - his speed was proving effective, and he was often the first to land when they were in mid-range. Donovan had been warned on several occasions for use of the elbow, and in the sixth round, he was penalised again, losing a point.

Still, the feeling was that Donovan was ahead on points, and Crocker needed something to gain some momentum to reignite the crowd. A couple of punches in the seventh did that, but Donovan using his head saw him reprimanded again, perhaps fortunate not to have another point taken off. His response was to up the tempo, throwing combinations, finishing the round strongly, and he seemed to have the upper hand in the eighth as he came forward, but ultimately lost his second point for use of the head. He upped the pace again, landing a punch to the body, and Crocker went down. The Belfast man got up and was swinging wildly as the bell went, but Donovan wasn’t done, inexplicably punching the vulnerable Crocker after the bell, leaving no option but to call the fight to an end.

What happens next is hard to predict, with Crocker's record moving to 21-0, while Donovan now faces his first defeat. For now, the Belfast man will move on in the welterweight division, although a rematch isn't out of the question. On the undercard, Padraig McCrory lost to Craig Richards in the eighth round, with the Londoner finishing the fight with a body shot. Kurt Walker moved his record to 12-0, with the Lisburn featherweight prevailing in a tough battle against former Anthony Cacace opponent Leon Woodstock by majority decision (97-93, 96-94, 95-95).

Steven Ward earned bragging rights with a sixth-round stoppage win over Tommy McCarthy in their all-Belfast clash. McCarthy was floored by a big shot at the end of the second round and then by a right hand in the sixth – this time opening the door to the finish, with the subsequent attack leading to referee Hugh Russell Jr stepping in. In another all-local super-bantamweight derby, Ruadhan Farrell settled his rivalry with Gerard Hughes, outpointing him 79-73, after the pair drew at the same venue at the back end of 2023. Earlier in the day, both Jack O’Neill and Alan Bowes recorded points victories, but there was a shock loss for Tipperary’s Shauna Brown, who was stopped in just 43 seconds by Elif Nur Turan in a WBC lightweight eliminator.