Donovan-Crocker rematch in Belfast for vacant IBF welterweight title

Lewis Crocker and Paddy Donovan will meet in Belfast on Saturday in a rematch that carries both a vacant IBF welterweight title and national significance, as the first ever all-Irish world title fight is staged at Windsor Park. The pair return to the ring six months after a controversial encounter in March in which Donovan was disqualified for landing a punch after the bell, an outcome that left the belt’s pathway unsettled until the governing body ordered an immediate return and the title became available when Jaron Ennis vacated it.

Their first clash at the SSE Arena ended amid heated debate. Donovan, who many accounts say was comfortably ahead on the cards and had visibly hurt Crocker, was penalised during the bout for head clashes and an elbow, and then disqualified in the eighth round when referee Marcus McDonnell ruled that a finishing blow landed after the bell. Team Donovan appealed, the IBF ordered a rematch and the controversy has only increased public interest in the second meeting.

Donovan, 26, has framed the rematch as a chance to right what he sees as a wrong and to fulfil a long-held ambition to become world champion. He said he had sacrificed family time to...