‘Next Irish superstar’ – Paddy Donovan planning to look good inside the Feile ring

Paddy Donovan [6(4)-0] returns to the venue where Bob Arum compared him to Muhamad Ali determined to prove he can look good inside the ring as well as outside of it.

‘The Real Deal’ was labeled ‘the best-looking boxer since Ali’ when he met the Top Rank boss man at the 2019 Feile, he now plans to catch the eye in the ring when he fights on the undercard of Michael Conlan versus TJ Doheny at the Falls Park.

Indeed, Donovan wants to use the massive Feile platform to show fans he has what it takes to be the next Irish boxing superstar.

The Limerick prospect has shown standout potential since turning over and managed to register impressive step-up wins during the lockdown.

His displays have impressed those in the boxing know but now he’s ready to branch out and show a wide audience what he is about.

“It’s a privilege for me to be on such a huge card. I’m very excited for this event and I’m grateful to Top Rank, my manager and Conlan Boxing for making this happen. I’m here to seize this opportunity with both hands, I’ll leave a big statement,” he told Irish-boxing.com.

“I’m really excited to be fighting on this platform and that ESPN are showing the fights globally. Millions of fans could potentially tune in and that’s where I wanna be, showing the world that I’m going to be next Irish boxing superstar.”

Donovan was ringside for the last Feile Fight Night and reveled in the noise and excitement of the night. Two Summers later and he is ready to experience it from a different vantage point. The Andy Lee trained talent is looking forward to being the recipient of support rather than doing the supporting.

“It was an incredible night,” he continues. “The last time I was at the Feile was an unbelievable night of boxing, personally I have never seen anything like that night.

“The Irish fans are the best in the world and they showed why that night. Now l’m really excited that they will be cheering for me.”

As he is most likely to appear earlier in the card, Donovan won’t get the full 2019 Michael Conlan experience, but he has his own pocket of support who will be extremely vocal when he does enter the ring.

“I have a lot of boxing fans, friends and family coming from home supporting me. I’ve been getting a lot of messages from people all over Ireland and some coming from different country’s that is coming to support. I’m thankful to everyone that is coming to see me in action and I’m very eager to deliver great fashion.”

After impressive wins against Jumaane Camero and Siar Ozgul Team Donovan set their sights on a WBC youth title win. The career progressive strap won’t be on the line on the big show but that doesn’t mean the Limerick fighter doesn’t want to produce a title-winning worthy performance.

“We have not got the WBC youth title yet but hopefully in my next fight, we will be able to make it happen. For now, I have one job to do and that is on Friday night, my full focus is on a world-class performance in front of our home fans,” he adds before discussing his opponent Jose Luis Castillo [9(6)-5(3)-1], not that one .

“The opponent has been confirmed as Jose Luis Castillo from Argentina. He is a very tough durable opponent and he will be out to cause an upset.”