Headline NewsNews

Boxing Union of Ireland petition EBU to try and secure Eric Donovan a European title shot

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is liffey-crane-hire-1.jpg

The Boxing Union of Ireland have petitioned the European Boxing Union and requested that Eric Donovan [12(7)-0] be afforded a European title shot.

The Irish featherweight champion has been vocal about his desire to challenge for the famous blue belt and of late has put in the kind of performances that suggest he is Continental level.

His performance against Joseafat Reyes [8(2)-12(1)-1] in Belfast on the first of this month in particular caught the eye and had many calling for him to be handed a major fight.

However, considering the Kildare fighter isn’t aligned to a major promoter with massive financial backing securing that break through fight has proved difficult.

It emerged earlier this year that the Athy BC graduate had been in the frame to face Spain-based Ecudorian Carlos Ramos for the vacant EBU European Union title on the same night as his ‘Irish Invasion’ win at York Hall.

The Kenneth Egan trained fighter accepted the fight in Santander but Ramos would instead choose Razaq Najib from the shortlist of opponents and promptly dominated the Englishman over twelve rounds to claim the belt.

It’s now feared Donovan appears to dangerous to take on, but Boxing Ireland haven’t Matchroom style money and as a result can’t force the issue.

As a result the BUI have added their weight to the situation and have attempted to use their relationship with the European Boxing Union to try get Donovan the shot many believe he deserves.

The current featherweight champion Andoni Gago defends his title against Gavin McDonnell in Bilbao on May 9.

Samir Ziani holds the super featherweight version of the strap and could defend against former James Tennyson and Anthony Cacace opponent Martin J Ward in France in April.

Donovan’s best bet may be to get an EU title shot around April May time and use it to secure mandatory status of for an EBU title.

The BUI also confirmed that the winner of the Irish middleweight title fight between Craig McCarthy and Chris Blaney will have defend against Steven Donnelly, although ‘The Donn’ will need to get an eight rounder in before hand.

The BUI also ordered Scotland’s Dean Sutherland to defend his BUI Celtic title.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Dean Sutherland’s team have stated that he is happy to defend his BUI Celtic Welterweight title against a BUI sanctioned opponent. Eligible opponents will be contacted in the coming days.</p>— BoxingUnionOfIreland (@boxingunionIRL) <a href=”https://twitter.com/boxingunionIRL/status/1228415066170691584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>February 14, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

dpg

Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

x