LEWIS Crocker and Paddy Donovan will meet in Belfast’s SSE Arena on March 1 in a quality all-Irish dust-up between two undefeated welterweights. Belfast man Crocker gets home advantage, as expected, against Limerick’s Donovan in a fight that has been talked about for a while.
This scrap is part of Matchroom Boxing’s upcoming schedule announcement for 2025, with shows organised for both sides of the pond. On January 25, Dalton Smith (below) tackles Walid Ouizza for the EBU European and WBC Silver Super-Lightweight Championships in Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena. Smith was supposed to fight Jon Fernandez in September for the title but withdrew injured.
Conah Walker features on the undercard, challenging Harry Scarff for the British and Commonwealth welterweight titles. Ellie Scotney defends her IBF & Ring Magazine Super-Bantamweight World Titles against Mea Motu.
On the same night in Las Vegas, Diego Pacheco boxes Steven Nelson in a battle of unbeaten super-middleweight contenders. On the undercard, Cuban Olympic star Andy Cruz takes on Omar Salcido, who recently defeated Chris Colbert, and puncher Ernesto Mercado, who takes on veteran Jose Pedraza.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, January 31, George Liddard co-headlines at London’s Indigo at The O2 against Birmingham’s Derrick Osaze. Rotherham’s Junaid Bostan battles Bilal Fawaz with the English Super-Welterweight crown up for grabs.
On Friday, February 28, Eduardo ‘Rocky’ Hernandez takes on Rene Tellez Giron at the Auditorio Guelaguetza in Oaxaca, Mexico.
March ends with the professional debut of Olympian Pat Brown as the cruiserweight standout headlines at Planet Ice Altrincham on the outskirts of his hometown, Manchester, on Saturday, March 28.