Festival Season – Promising Paddy Donovan secures Féile slot

Paddy Donovan [6(4)-0] has been rewarded for his postive start to pro life with a slot on the Feile an Phobail card.

Irish-boxing.com understands the Limerick starlet will next fight in Belfast on Friday, August 6, in the open air, on the yet to be officially announced Feile Festival Fight Night.

It’s a massive oppurtuinity for ‘The Real Deal’ to show his wares on a massive stage, raise his profile and progress his career further.

Looking good at the same venue he visited as a fan back in 2019 – and was told by Bob Arum he was the most handsome fighter since Muhammad Ali – would allow the Andy Lee trained Top Rank fighter to spread the Donovan gospel to a much wider audience than any fight previous.

His clash against a yet to be confirmed opponent, which it’s understood will be a first eight-rounder for the unbeaten 22-year-old, will populate the undercard of Michael Conlan’s toughest test to date and will be broadcast across Britain, Ireland and America.

The Top Rank youngster cemented his standout prospect status with impressive step-up wins over Jumaane Camero and Siar Ozguk in his last two fights – which has lead to a step up in rounds, platform, and presumably level of opponent.

Speaking recently, his fellow Limerick man and coach, Andy Lee suggested he wanted his charge to have something tangible to show for the bright start.

A WBC World Youth title fight was said to be in the pipeline. However, it doesn’t appear as if the southpaw will challenge for the vacant strap in Belfast this summer – and it will be interesting to see who they put him in with.

Rumour and indeed common sense suggests Padraig McCrory and Sean McComb will also appear on the card, with a host more hoping to be selected to fight at the Falls Park during the West Belfast festival.