‘Who’s Next, No Contest’ – Paddy Donovan gets his very own song
‘Line them up, who’s next, no contest, Paddy’s the best’ – just some of the lyrics from a song penned for and in homage to Paddy Donovan [8(6)-0].
Although he doesn’t perform it himself ‘The Real Deal’ has entered Roy Jones territory and has become the topic of a tune.
Mc Pat Flynn has written a track for the Limerick prodigy and it will be given its live debut in Belfast next week.
The vocalist, whose ‘Get on Your Knees’ song has over 33 million views on YouTube, will serenade the Andy Lee trained Top Rank starlet into the ring on the Return of the Mick card at the SSE Arena on Saturday.
The rap entrance has always proven difficult to pull off even for some of the world’s biggest rap stars, in fact, another Irish rapper JyellowL, who featured on the FIFA 2020 soundtrack, is one of a very few who managed to do it successfully when accompanied Francy Luzoho into the ring.
While the bells and whistles of a unique entrance will help the OLOL graduate standout, a good performance in the ring is what really matters.
A hand injury took the wind, that wins over Jumaane Camero and Siar Ozgul had put in the Treaty county man’s sails over the last year or so – but opponent Tom Hill [10(2)-2(1)] gives him the chance to regain momentum.
The Middlesbrough boxer scalped Irish opposition in his last outing, upsetting Rohan Daté in Dubai back in March on a Probellum bill. Hill dropped and outpointed the Waterford banger in that bout and will be looking to make it two Irish wins in a row in Belfast.
The rangy Redcard man had previously been defeated in an Area title fight with Ellis Corrie and then to prospect Jack Rafferty but reinvigorated his career with the Daté win.
For Donovan, it’s a first fight since dominating Miroslav Serban in Glasgow in February. The World Junior silver medallist’s career progression has been thus far delayed by frustrating hand injuries and the pandemic but he could start to build quickly with a win high up a stacked card.
The strong card also features Tyrone McKenna v Chris Jenkins, Padraig McCrory v Marco Periban, and all-Irish clashes in James McGivern v Tony McGlynn and Colm Murphy v Ruadhan Farrell – not to mention headliner Mick Conlan who returns versus veteran Miguel Marriaga.
