‘Just a taster’ – Andy Lee says fans haven’t seen the real ‘Real Deal’ yet
‘You ain’t seen nothing yet’, warns Andy Lee but in a typically more articulate fashion.
The Limerick coach says there is a lot more to come from Paddy Donovan and hopes the best of it is seen in the pair’s home county of Limerick.
Donovan’s impressive stoppage win over Danny Ball on the undercard of Katie Taylor’s historic victory over Chantelle Cameron in Dublin’s 3Arena late last month had many suggesting he could live up to his ‘Real Deal’ ring moniker.
However, former middleweight champion of the world, Lee, who coaches the Matchroom signed talent, says those watching his 3Arena hosted stoppage win only got a sample size of his potential.
“That’s (fight vs. Ball) just a taste of what he can do,” said Lee. “There’s a lot more to come from Paddy.”
Matchroom Promoter Eddie Hearn couldn’t hide his excitement after the aforementioned win and has since been telling any press outlets that will listen, he now fancies promoting Donovan in Limerick – all of which is music to Lee’s ears.
“We can bring Matchroom to Limerick for a world title fight.”
Headling in the Treaty county is something the former underage amateur standout fancies himself.
“We like to see new talent emerge in Ireland,” Donovan said. “I’m set to move into the limelight.”
“Eddie Hearn talked about a show in Limerick with me headlining. We haven’t had boxing here in the last 10-15 years and this would possibly be the biggest boxing event ever in Limerick. If that fight doesn’t happen next, we’re also looking to fight in New York City, possibly on St. Patrick’s Day at Madison Square Garden.”
Donovan was denied a spot amont Knockout of the Year contenders by the game Ball’s refusal to stay down after he was walked onto the perfect shot.
However, the 24-year-old trapped the English fighter in a corner and showed his killer instinct by forcing the stoppage.
“I looked in my corner,” Donovan noted, “and Andy said to go get him. I did! There was a lot of pressure to deliver in Ireland because there was a lot of talk about me fighting. The crowd anticipated my fight, and I handled it well. The fight went as good as I could have dreamed. I knew I had the talent but my maturity at 24 is where I’ve improved the most this past year. It went as we trained, and I knocked him out in the fourth round. My footwork was good, I set-up my shots and came out of the fight without a scratch. This was my best fight to date.”
