THREE years after turning professional, almost everything has gone to plan in boxing terms for Paddy Donovan.
In the ring it has been victory after victory to date, but outside of it he has known loss and sadness that have sapped him far more than any of the opponents in the squared circle.
Two heart breaking tragedies struck the young Ennis fighter last year, as he lost an uncle and a cousin to suicide within a few months of each other.
It made 2021 a desperately sad and dark year for Donovan, but as 2022 comes to a close he says he has recovered and consolidated, and he plans to record the tenth victory of his still fledgling professional career on Saturday in Belfast.
Twenty three years of age and unbeaten, Donovan is one of the brightest prospects in Irish boxing. After a glittering amateur career, he was courted by several of the biggest promoters in the world, before going with Top Rank in 2019.
Nine victories – all either stoppages or comprehensive points wins – have followed, meaning Andy Lee’s protege is still on track for a future professional world title, an achievement that would make him one of Clare’s greatest ever sportsmen.
So far, so successful and so simple in the ring for the fighter who now lives in Meelick after growing up in Ennis, but he has certainly had his share of pain outside it.
“William (Donovan) was an uncle of mine, and Patrick (Keenan) was a first cousin, both died by suicide.
“I lost an auntie just over ten years ago to suicide as well. Tough times. Difficult patches of your life you have to go through, tough obstacles to cross.
“2021 was very damaging, not just for me but for my whole family. We just had one death in the family followed by another one three months later. We were just trying to heal from one and another one comes,” he says.
Donovan also suffered a hand injury in 2021, so even the respite he took from his sport was lessened when he needed it most, but he feels he has now come through that terrible period.
“Boxing-wise it was very tough, family-wise it was very tough. But my Dad kept me in the gym, he kept our heads screwed on, kept us doing what we do best.
“You’re never going to be over it, the fact you lose someone, but in time you heal and can move forward. It makes you stronger. 2022 has been a good year and hopefully 2023 will be better.”
The depth of sadness after losing his uncle was like nothing he had felt before, he reflects. “William was my best friend. Very, very close to me. He was a former boxer, we did everything together. Losing him was really damaging to me, it took me to lows I didn’t know were possible.
“I’m a very outgoing, happy person, I’d always have a smile on my face, but when something like this happens it changes your perspective on life, it changes a lot of things.
“I was depressed, I was down, but I regrouped. I’m back now, better than ever. I’m in a good place now, mentally I’m in a good place, physically I’m in a good place. I’ve some very, very good people around me who have always kept me focused on my goals in boxing and in life.
“I do this for the love of the sport, I do it for my family and friends, I do it for the kids of Clare and Limerick, I’m representing them and I have to do things correctly, that’s my goal.”
Paddy’s father Martin has a long association with the Our Lady of Lourdes Club in Limerick, who Paddy boxed for before turning professional.
In the Donovan household boxing was everything, in the same way as hurling or football would be in many other Clare homes.
“My Dad did a lot of boxing when he was younger, it was just part of life, we just did it and enjoyed it and became very successful.
“My brother Edward is also a pro, he’s 5-0. He’s fighting on January 22 on the Chris Eubank undercard. He’s out in Spain right now on a training camp, it’s been boxing all our lives.”
Martin still coaches Paddy, along with Andy Lee, Limerick’s former WBO middleweight world champion.
Lee also manages Donovan’s business affairs, and Paddy was the first fighter he became involved with in 2019.
Since then Lee has gone onto extraordinary success as a coach, being involved with Tyson Fury’s unforgettable victories over Deontay Wilder, as well as the subsequent wins over Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora.
Through Lee, Donovan has ended up training regularly with Fury and Joseph Parker (former WBO heavyweight world champion), and memorably he was seen by millions celebrating wildly and carrying the WBC belt back to the changing rooms after Fury’s first victory over Wilder.
“It was absolutely brilliant. I was out there for three weeks beforehand being a part of his training camp.
“Andy was one of his coaches for that fight, I got to see him train, got to see him prepare, got to see how he lives and trains like a real champion and the dedication he puts in to be where he’s at.
“It opened up my eyes to what I have to do and put my body through to become a champion. He’s a tremendous athlete, one of the greatest fighters that has ever lived,” says Donovan.
A high level of confidence and ambition is a prerequisite for success in any professional sport, and the welterweight isn’t short of either.
As his last fight of the year approaches he is already looking to the year after next, when he feels he will be ready for a world title challenge.
“By the end of 2024 I want a shot at a world title, or early in 2025. I believe then that if I become a world champion I could go up and down in weights and become a multiple world champion.
“I think I’ve got a unique style, I believe I’m a very special fighter, I’m one of the best prospects in Ireland, have been since I turned pro, have been since the amateurs.”
It’s expected that Katie Taylor will fight in Dublin next year, likely packing out Croke Park, and if it does happen it will be the largest professional boxing attendance ever seen in this country.
Many Irish boxers are hoping to be on the undercard and there is talk of Donovan facing Waterford’s Dylan Moran on it.
Both have taken the same nickname ‘The Real Deal’ and Donovan jokes that the situation can’t continue. “I guess there can only be one Real Deal, we’ll see,” he laughs.
While he would definitely be home for that, he says that after this weekend he will be concentrating on raising his profile on the other side of the Atlantic.
“America is the plan. To be a very successful boxer, America is the place to go.
“My promoter is over there, Top Rank, so our plan is to get this tenth professional fight out of the way, get the win, get the knockout hopefully, and we can get Stateside and push on for bigger and better things.”
Before that, there is the more immediate matter of Angel Gomez, his Mexican opponent this Saturday night.
Donovan had been due to fight the experienced Argentinian Wiston Campos, before a late change, and while he says he knows relatively little about the Mexican, he says the visitor will come to
fight.
“He’s very tough, very durable, he comes forward and he’s going to come to win. He’s very strong, an offensive fighter, and I think he’ll bring the best out of me. “
Donovan met with the Clare Champion on Tuesday of last week, just before his last sparring session ahead of the Belfast fight.
One could easily see he was in excellent shape, but he still expects to find the lead-up to Friday’s weigh-in to be difficult.
“You’re not really fully functioning, you’re not at your happiest, you’d be on the cranky side until the weigh in.”
On Saturday morning he will visualize what he wants to happen, then will put it all out of his head until shortly before he goes to war.
“On the day of the fight I like to think of the way the fight could go so I sit down on my bed, visualise the fight, how I want it to go. Then that’s it, after I do that I won’t want to think about the fight anymore, I’ll think about anything else. I’ll have a cup of coffee, speak to my Dad, speak to Andy, just not think about the fight until I get close to the ring.
“I like to switch off completely, play some video games, be on the phone, read a book, be tuned out from the fight until close to the event.
“Then when I go over to the venue I tune in, get turned on, be in my boxing state of mind, preparation starts, warm-up, ring walk, and get in there and fight.”
Visualization is something that people across many sports practice, and Donovan says he has done it for years.
“About 10 or 11am I like to visualize how the fight goes. I have a picture of his style in my head, I have a picture of my style, I like to think what shots I’m going to work on, what way I want the fight to go, what rounds I want to pick it up, what rounds I’ll push on for a stoppage or a points win. And then that’s it, I don’t want to think about the fight anymore, leave it until I get in the ring.”
Apart from boxing he loves sport in general, supports Manchester United passionately, while he used to line out for Avenue United and the Banner GAA club.
But for him there is no sport that compares with boxing, no other sport that tests its participants as rigorously.
“It’s the most disciplined sport on the planet. In team sports you can get away with bad performances, in boxing you can’t. It’s an individual sport, you have to be switched on 24/7, not just in the ring, everything you do outside the ring needs to be perfect. You need to always be dedicated, always turned on, be prepared for every challenge and give 100% of your abilities.”
While it could be more than 15 years away yet, he says he wants to open a boxing gym when he retires, and become involved in coaching.
“After I finish boxing I want to give back to Ennis and Limerick, give other kids the opportunity to make something of their lives, give them the opportunity that I’ve got.”
He says the demands of the sport can put young people on the right track, giving them physical and psychological benefits that will stand to them away from the boxing ring.
“I believe it’s the best sport in the world, it’s the most disciplined sport in the world. It takes kids off the streets, it prevents them from bullying kids and prevents them from being bullied.
“It disciplines them, weight-wise, training-wise. You go away on international tournaments and see different things. It’s a special sport and a great sport for any kid to get involved in. If you give boxing a try, it can change your life.”
Successful boxers on the world stage come into astronomical sums of money nowadays, but very often they don’t have the ability to manage it, and even fighters like Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, who earned hundreds of millions in glamour fights, fell to earth and became bankrupt.
In Donovan’s case he has the experience of Andy Lee to help, and he says the non-boxing advice he gets from him is as insightful as Lee’s coaching is.
“A lot of fighters earn a lot of money from the sport, especially being with a big promoter like I am, but when they give up boxing they don’t know what to do.
“They party and do stupid things with the money. Andy is very professional, he has a young family too, a wife and three young kids and he’s very switched on in things he has done after boxing.
“He was a very successful boxer, he bought some properties, has his own businesses, he’s working with DAZN, working as a coach. He’s very switched on in things he has done, investments he has made. I look up to him a lot and he gives me very good advice.”
It’s very apparent that the respect he has for Lee runs deep.
“He’s been there, done that, was a very professional fighter, very successful amateur fighter and now he’s a very successful man after boxing. He does everything very professionally, he’s a guy I’d love to be like, he’s a guy I look up to a lot, a very important man in my life.”
He feels he has everything in place to get the best out of himself in the next couple of years. “I’m on the right path, I’ve the best team in the world around me, and it’s up to me. I train hard, prepare my best, I’ve big goals in boxing, I want to be a world champion and I’ll leave no box unticked.”
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.