Rebel Rouser Colin O’Donovan ready for war
‘The Rebel Rouser’ is ready to rise and do what he was put on this Earth to do.
Currently deep in a rigorous training camp, Cork super bantamweight Colin O’Donovan is preparing for his professional boxing debut next month in Dublin.
O’Donovan, hailing from Douglas, will make his highly-anticipated pro bow at the National Stadium on Saturday September 9th. Here the wild man will box on the undercard of the ‘Celtic Clash 3: Building Champions’ show which is headlined by former top amateur and RTÉ pundit Eric Donovan who takes on Welsh champion Dai Davies in a BUI Celtic featherweight title fight.
There really was never any other option for O’Donovan. A fighter to his very core, it’s the only thing the Youghal-based man wants to do
“I’ve been a fighter, born and raised, my whole life. Love fighting, love getting into it, except now I can do it legally and get paid,” he jokes. “Nothing better than getting paid for what you love to do.”
The refined, tactical nature of the amateurs was never fully suited to O’Donovan’s ferocious qualities. He pines for a simpler sort of fighting and outlines how “I want to look back at my career and I want to watch war after war, I want it to be Barrera or Marquez type of stuff, that type of warrior style. If I have to move around, I’ll move around, but if someone wants to meet me in the middle and just chug away, that’s what I want.”
“I want to entertain the crowd but I want to entertain myself, I want to go home and watch the video and go ‘oh yeah that was a tear-up.’ Something to be enjoyed, something that when I look back when I’m 40 or 50 and can think ‘that was unreal.’ I don’t want a dancing match.”
Foe his assault on the pro ranks, O’Donovan has linked up with Boxing Ireland Promotions – and manager Leonard Gunning admits to being initially taken aback by the ambitious Leesider, noting how “this lad came at me out of nowhere and I wasn’t sure what to make of him at first. But he’s turned out to be one of the most honest, dedicated and driven lads I’ve ever come across.”
Some have grown frustrated with boxing over the years, with boring fights, mismatches, and fighters avoiding opponents. Followers of O’Donovan will not face this problem.
The Cork man states, with genuine sincerity, that “I’d fight every second week, every third week, every month if possible. I want to travel the world fighting, I want to fight the best and I want to say I fought the best. I don’t want to just say ‘I was this’ or ‘I was that,’ I want to prove it, I want to show it on video. Win or lose, just go in there and smash them up.”
Headlined by the Donovan-Davies title fight, the Celtic Clash 3 card also features Stephen McAfee, Martin Quinn, Regan Buckley, Carl McDonald, Chris Mullally, Michael Gallagher, Niall O’Connor, James Cahill, Gerard Whitehouse, Bernard Roe, John Joyce, and Dylan McDonagh.
Tickets for the show cost €30 (Balcony), €40 (Gallery), €60 (Ringside), €100 (VIP Premium), and €15 (Under-15s gallery – must be bought alongside an adult ticket) and are available to buy from the boxers or online at Ticketmaster.ie.
Photo Credit: Sharon Flanagan
