#5 Lewis Crocker (21-0, 11 KOs) was saved from a near-certain defeat by referee Marcus McDonnell abruptly disqualifying Paddy Donovan (14-1, 11 KOs) in the eighth round after he dropped Crocker with a perfectly placed right hand, albeit a tad bit after the bell in their IBF welterweight title eliminator on Saturday night at The SSE Arena, in Belfast, Ireland. There are no words to describe how bad of a call this was by McDonnel. I’m speechless.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
A Moment of Madness
It was a weird call. I mean, there hadn’t been any previous instances of warnings being given to Donovan, 26, for hitting after the bell. So, it’s strange that the referee McDonnel would yank him out of there after poleaxing Crocker. The official time of the stoppage was at 3:00 of round eight.
As far as I can tell, Crocker came close to winning none of the rounds. It was just #6 Donovan having a field day, beating the royal stuffing out of ‘The Croc’, jacking up his left eye, and enjoying himself fully in this one-sided contest. Both of Crocker’s eyes were cut, and he was knocked down hard in the eighth.
The referee McDonnell was giving Donovan grief before the DQ, penalizing him for the use of the head in rounds six and eight. It looked to me like Crocker was also coming forward like a Billy goat. So, I don’t know why Donovan got docked for points left and right.
It’s obvious there needs to be a rematch between Crocker and Donovan so they can prove who really deserves to fight for the IBF 147-lb title. The welterweight division is so utterly weak right now that these are the type of contenders you have fighting in title eliminators. If there is a rematch, the winner will be the mandatory for IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
CROCKER GOES DOWN AFTER THE BELL AND DONOVAN IS DQ’D!! 😵😵#CrockerDonovan pic.twitter.com/kbaFlo1Qey
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) March 1, 2025
Last Updated on 03/01/2025
Read the full article here