‘I don’t give up,’ defiant Dominic Donegan responds to retirement talk

‘I don’t give up,’ declares a defiant Dominic Donegan.

The Cavan fighter is bemused by some suggesting he should retire after losing the Clash of Cavan live on TG4 just over a week ago.

Without a win in five there have been some claiming it may be best for ‘The Bomb’ to call it day – but the fighter says those advocating hanging them up as his next move don’t know what he is about.

Donegan, whose two most recent reverses came against Irish opponents in Graham McCormack and Owen Duffy, is keen to point out he isn’t one for shying away from adversity or exiting stage left when things go wrong.

He is adamant he still has a future in the sport and points to the fact he has time to turn things around.

“Why retire? I’m only 27 years of age,” he bristles when the subject is raised by Irish-boxing.com.

“People that lose fights just give up too easily. I definitely don’t give up. I am going to keep going. I know I’m on a bad run but I’m not going to give up. I’m going to prove everyone wrong. Eric Donovan won his European title at 37 I’m only 27.”

It’s not just stubborn resilience from Donegan. The Daniel Anderson trained fighter, who hasn’t had a win since 2020, is aware he needs to work on certain things, mainly confidence. He is confident he can make adjustments and thus predicts he will turn things around.

Donegan believes more time spent with Anderson will allow him to change the tide and eventually achieve his boxing goals.

“I have my eyes set on certain things and I believe I’ll achieve them,” he adds.

“I know it will take time but I have time on my side. I have a brilliant coach in Daniel Anderson that believes in me. We didn’t have enough time to work with each other before this fight but the time we had was beneficial. Everyone saw a better boxer in there against Owen. I was calmer, maybe too calm but I was better. So more time with Dan, two confidence-building fights, and then back into domestic dust-ups. I’m far from retiring there is too much in the sport that I like. Let people think what they want.”

While there have been some questioning as to whether Donegan’s race has been run no one has been questioning his desire to get on the track.

The entire boxing community has tipped their hat to his willingness to take all Irish fights, particularly on the back of some upset results.

The fighter doesn’t believe he deserves credit for taking the fan-friendly bouts. He believes they should be the norm and hints those who avoid them should be questioned.

“I don’t want credit for taking these fights. These are the kind of fights everyone should be taking. Everyone is too cautious about there record, afraid to take risks incase they lose. It’s not the end of the world if you lose. It makes you come better you learn.”

It’s bullish from the Ulsterman but beyond the defiance, he admits there is pain after losing to Duffy the localist of rivalries live on TG4.

“I’m feeling devastated. People won’t understand how bad I feel. I was two or three rounds up on the scorecard, then to get that blow in the fifth round. It was devastating. People don’t understand what a shot like that is like, people are asking why I didn’t get up, but literally, I just couldn’t. I was in awful pain.”