HOLLYWOOD good looks donโt account for much in the fight game. But the Andy Lee-coached, Matchroom-promoted, hard-hitting attention seeker Paddy Donovan insists only a few hurdles remain between him and his โworld titleโ destiny. Louis Evans spoke to the scintillating southpaw ahead of his big fight with Lewis Ritson tomorrow evening.
Whatโs your earliest fighting memory?
I come from a very humble family. My dad was a boxing coach, a former boxer who opened his own gym in 2003 in Limerick City. I grew up fighting on the streets. My family, cousins, and brothers were all fighters. It was an environment where you had to be tough and fight your own battles.
My brother [Edward] is also a professional; my uncle has won numerous national titles. My first cousin, Jim, heโs ready to turn professional with Andy [Lee]. We were always in the trenches, always scrapping. Usually, my brother and I would put on boxing gloves outside of the house instead of kicking a football or playing hurling. After school, go out between the front gardens, where there was a square box. Weโd battle for about an hour or so before we even got to the gym. It was boxing, boxing, boxing.
My dad always seen something in me. He always knew I would be very successful in boxing. Everyone I ever met at tournaments said Iโd be a future world champion, an Irish star. But I didnโt see it that way. It was just the only thing I knew. I wasnโt good at much elseโother sports or schoolโI just knew fighting, and people eventually took notice.
You have a very explosive, exciting style. How has it developed?
I was naturally very talented. My whole life, boxing was something I had never really loved. But in the amateurs, I wasnโt losing. It was win after win, thirty-five fights at a time undefeated. Then, when I reached high European and world amateur levels at 17-18, people started noticing and wanted to see more of me. I started looking at myself and thinking, โHold on, I can do something here.โ I realised I could make a living out of this and provide a life for my family.
From then on, I believed I could be a boxing world champion and change my familyโs life. That was the aim at the time. But now, Iโm so close. Iโm trained by one of the best coaches in boxing [Andy Lee] and signed with the best promoter in the world [Eddie Hearn]. It feels like Iโm destined to be a world champion.
How do you define the art of the KO?
I have one of the highest knockout percentages in Irish amateur boxing history. Everyone would say, โThis is the guy for the professional ranks.โ Iโd have ten fights with nine knockouts. There’d be another seven or eight knockouts for every fight that went the distance.
Natural ability plays a big part. Andy has guys in the gym who come throughโsome extremely strong punchersโbut they donโt have the โknow-howโ for the KO. You canโt train the KO; itโs there naturally. A good coach can help you sneak those knockout shots in at the right time and place as you go up the levels. Andy designs many of these shots for me, and itโs a lot of what we do at the gym. We work on hitting and not getting hit, keeping it nice and clean, and setting up the killer punch. Thatโs what itโs been these last couple of years. When I turned professional, Andy said, โPaddy, hopefully we can have you ten fights in with a 50% knockout rate.โ My percentage is around 80% in 13 fights [laughs]. Not so bad!
What makes Andy Lee the right coach for you? How is your relationship special?
I look at Andy as an amazing person, not just a coach. I just love being around him. Since I turned professional, heโs never taken a penny off me, never taken money from my corners or in the lines of expenses. Heโs taken care of absolutely everything for me. Andy has seen much of himself in me since he started his professional career. Heโs more of a father figure than a boxing coach. We have a great relationship; we have never had a falling out or a dispute. Iโve always done everything he says, no matter what the cost.
Whatโs the best piece of advice Andy has given you in life?
Stay humble. Keep training in the gym. Iโve got a young family [wife, Ellie, and three children], [Andy says] to take care of them and stay away from bad company. I was a wild and brazen kid when I started professional boxing. I was just out to enjoy myself. As the years went on, I started to settle down. The priority was to look after my wife and kids and try to build a future for them. Thatโs exactly what Andy has helped me do.
Andy has an incredible education, working under Emanuel Steward and Adam Booth. Where do you see that influence in the gym?
[I liken myself more to] An Emanuel Steward fighter. Andy has taken bits from Adam, bits from Emanuel, and, obviously, bits from myself. Sometimes, I take time to look at Emanuel and Adamโs workโand I can see so much of Andy in both of themโbut the history and culture of Emanuel and Kronk are still very much with Andy. We relate a little bit more to them and their style.
How do you evaluate the state of Irish boxing?
[Standards of] Irish boxing were always very high, even when Andy and I were amateurs. The Irish national team was always a step ahead of Team GB. Now, weโre getting recognised a lot more. We donโt have to go to America; we donโt have to catch flights overseas. Eddie [Hearn] coming to Ireland, putting on two massive shows for Katie [Taylor], and giving opportunities to myself, Gary Cully, Thomas Carty, Caoimhรญn Agyarko, Lewis Crocker, and all the other fighters coming through has been massive. The talent has always been there; the recognition is all we needed, and weโre getting it now.
Iโd love to fight Crocker; itโs an amazing fight for the Irish fans. This is what weโre in boxing for; Iโve known him since quite a young age. Heโs 28, three years older than me. Everywhere I go, people ask, โWhen are you gonna fight Crocker? Would you accept the fight?โ Itโs possible, it could happen. I donโt want to go into too much detail, but itโs a fight that we want.
If I canโt become a โworld championโ with my amateur pedigree, Andy Lee and my team, being built up so well by Top Rank and now signed with Eddie HearnโGod help the rest of the Irish fighters! Who else will [become champion] if I canโt do it with all that? Iโm going to be a world champion; I do believe that. I know what I must do, and it wonโt be easy. Iโve got a big fight with Lewis Ritson, and I know weโve got another fight made. I donโt wanna leak anything yet, but thatโll put me in place for a world title. Two more wins, and weโll be ready.
Have you always loved the limelight?
Iโve always loved being the centre of attention in the ring. I grab the headlines at every show I’ve been on. I performed very well on the first Taylor-Catterall card and had another knockout at Katie Taylor-Chantelle Cameron II. Iโve performed amazingly in all the big shows.
I love the attention and everything it brings. I love fight week, the interviews, people talking about me, and all the bars having it on. Being recognised everywhere at home and in Dublin is an amazing feeling. Itโs great that someone from a traveller background – someone much less educated – has been very successful. Itโs great for me, all the young traveller kids, and the Irish people. They know they could have a star on their hands.
How in touch are you with your American audience?
Iโm always in touch with my [US-based] co-manager, Keith Sullivan; Iโm on the radio and in the newspapers in New York. Iโm always in the limelight over there. I believe I have a big following there. The last time I was in the States, I was in Madison Square Garden and received a [New York Knicks] jersey, and Andy was asked for us to headline it in the next fight or two. That was a couple of months ago when I went out for the Jason Quigley fight.
If I can get my arse to the States, if I can cross that line, I know we can do some amazing things over there. When I was with Top Rank through Covid, things just fell through at the last minute. I was supposed to fight there in 2021. Weโd flown out and everything, but it just fell through. To dance in New York and headline MSG, itโs a box that Iโd like to get ticked off.
How do you deal with pressure?
You feel it in every big fight, of course. The expectation in every fight is very high right now, especially in Ireland. Everyone believes Iโm going to win; everyone believes Iโm going to perform. But I donโt see it that way. I know Iโve put in a lot of work and had to be away from my family. Put me in the ring and let me fight; itโs in Godโs hands. If I win, I win; if I lose, I lose. Weโll go again. Itโs not the end of the world.
I love to fight; I love to enjoy it. However, if I let it get to my head and put pressure on myself, my performance wonโt be good. It [the fight] all goes in a flash. Itโs just a memory, then. Before you know it, Iโm back with my wife and kids. Then, I can reminisce. It happens so fast that you go through the motions.
But if you look into it, Iโve done nothing. If I donโt become a world champion, this journey in professional boxing will be a complete failure. My talents and my team are worthy of a world title.
Statistically, traveller men are seven times more likely to be victims of suicide than non-traveller men in Ireland. From your perspective, why do the statistics indicate this?
Itโs an answer that nobody can put their finger on. We ask that question so much. Itโs happened to our family three times in the last ten years. We know itโs there; we know itโs alive. There are around eight deaths in every traveller’s name. Suicide hits them eight times per generation! Weโre trying to find a solution. Everyone we meet [whose family has been a victim of suicide] we ask, โWhy do you think they did it? What pushes them towards it?โ I donโt know. All I can say is that thereโs help; there are people to talk to. They can always contact me, and they can always contact my team. Pieta House is always there. The number is 1800 247 247. Theyโre the best team in Ireland.
I canโt put my finger directly on it. My family has had two deaths [suicides] in the last two and a half years. Iโd be lying if I said I knew the answer. What could drive someone to leave this world? I donโt know. Every family in Ireland wants to know. Hopefully, they can find it in their heart to change their feelings and contact people who can help them.
How do you want to be remembered as a fighter?
Someone who changed Irish boxing, someone who people look up to. A good person inside and outside of the ring, and a โworld championโ. After that, [when Donovan hangs up the gloves] to give back to the people of the city [Limerick] and Ireland, to give back to the young boxers in Ireland – to have kids wanting to be the next me. If I can become a โworld championโ and achieve the things set out in my head, Iโll be very much liked in Ireland.