‘Lewis Crocker World F**king Champion’ – Ireland’s Latest Champ Tells Doubters To Put Respect on his Name

World Champion Lewis Crocker sent a blunt message to his doubters after defeating Paddy Donovan to claim the IBF welterweight crown at Windsor Park on Saturday night.

The Belfast fighter dropped the Limerick native twice and edged the highly rated southpaw on a split decision to claim the world title in front of his home fans at Windsor Park on Saturday.

The new IBF welterweight world title holder, who entered the first-ever all-Irish world title fight as a big underdog, says being written off going into the rematch made victory all the more satisfying.

Indeed, speaking after he called for those who questioned him after the pair’s first encounter in March to put respect on his name and ‘world f**king champion’ before it.

“Nobody gave me a chance in that fight, absolutely nobody,” he said in Windsor on Saturday. “I was a massive underdog and got slated the whole way after the second fight. So yeah, it was a good result.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Irish-Boxing.com (@irishboxingcom)

“I loved it, the underdog role, and I embraced that. I was way more relaxed. You could see once I hurt him, when he got dropped, maybe he knew, ‘like I’ve talked all this s*** about him and everything and I’m on the back foot’. Incredible.

“A lot of people gave my stick after the first fight (against Paddy Donovan),” he adds.

“Well tomorrow, when you do your wee post make sure you write: Lewis Crocker World f**king Champion.

“This belt belongs to my parents. They got me to where I am today. This belt belongs to them as much as me. I owe them everything and I am so grateful

Proving the doubters wrong obviously meant a lot to the Holy Trinity graduate, but his true joy came in achieving a lifelong dream.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Irish-Boxing.com (@irishboxingcom)

For ‘The Croc, ‘ Saturday was a moment that will be hard to beat.

“I knew this was my moment and just visualised everything about tonight, hearing ‘and the new’ and then the silent pause, and you’re waiting there, and he says ‘from Belfast…’ and all that. And that was it, life’s peaked, it will never get any better than that moment.”

The victory, he says, was about more than personal glory. It was about representing his city and inspiring others.

“To have the Belfast fans there, to hear ‘and the new’ in Belfast, to have my family there, my friends – it was a life-changing moment. You get into this game just to have them nights. Who could have ever pictured that?”