LEWIS CROCKER’S FAMILY are already stitched into the tapestry of Irish boxing through his sister, Alanna Nihell.
On 31 October, 2001, at Dublin’s National Stadium, Belfast girl Alanna faced a fellow teenager from Bray in what was the first ever officially sanctioned female bout in Ireland.
While Katie Taylor would eventually leave an indelible mark on her country’s sporting landscape, Nihell carved out a fine amateur career in her own right, twice competing for Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games and winning bronze in Glasgow in 2014.
But it will only burnish her own legacy that Nihell also introduced to the sport her younger brother, Crocker, who tonight hosts Limerick’s Paddy Donovan in a final eliminator for a world-title.
On the one hand, welterweight contender ‘Croc’, 20-0 with 11 knockout wins, has come a long way from Sandy Row. On the other, he hasn’t at all, really: the biggest fight of his life will take place at the SSE Arena, about two and a half miles from where he grew up.
There have been bumps on the road but the aim has always been the same.
“Even since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to look after my family,” Crocker says. “That’s still the main goal.
“Like, I remember my dad used to take me to boxing — we were in East Belfast at the time — and we had to walk it, we couldn’t afford taxis. And it’s a good trip, so it is, back and forth! And that was Monday to Friday.”
His parents’ perseverance paid off to a point. Crocker turned professional as a 19-year-old before he had even boxed as a senior in the amateur ranks. He was immediately earmarked as the next big thing out of Belfast, his first four fights lasting just a combined five rounds. Carl Frampton routinely championed him as the successor to his Belfast throne.
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Even when Crocker’s momentum slowed with a series of points wins between 2019 and 2020, the general sense was that he remained an elite talent who just needed a rocket lit under him.
After a couple of more eye-catching outings against European-title-level opponents in 2021, however, Crocker’s career hit the skids through injury toils and inactivity.
During his year and a half out of the ring between the autumn of 2021 and the spring of 2023, he observed in envy the opportunities given to his fellow welterweight prospects, including domestic rival Donovan who swapped Bob Arum’s Top Rank for Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom.
While their careers gained momentum with sign-on fees and prominent fights, Crocker found himself applying for jobs at call centres to make ends meet.
“I went from main-eventing at the Ulster Hall, meant to take off, to… just skint,” Crocker says. “I’m still skint,” he laughs.
“It’s just like, what do you do when there’s no boxing? I had nothing, you know what I mean? And it was just a real tough time.
“I wasn’t good mentally. I wasn’t good physically.
“It was tough. At least I had my parents and my family, they’ll always look after me. It’s good that I can start to pay them back.”
Is the plan, then, to put them in a mansion one day?
“I wouldn’t take it that far,” Crocker laughs. “They can get a flat on Sandy Row!
“Nah, as long as they have a roof over their heads and they’re comfortable in there to a certain degree, they’ll be alright… [Mum] can still pay my phone bill!”
When he has to make a boxing decision — like he did when he linked up with Scottish trainer Billy Nelson in Glasgow a couple of years ago — the 28-year-old Crocker still rings sister Alanna, 11 years his senior and now a performance coach with GB Boxing.
Fighting Paddy Donovan, and taking a step closer to those life-changing riches, didn’t require much consultation, though.
The biggest Irish fight in modern times is almost unique in its makeup: two unbeaten, world-rated welterweights in a bottleneck and whoever emerges will fight for the IBF welterweight world title, which by then will likely be vacant.
Where typically Irish boxers in the same weight class would support each other and wave off the idea off facing each other until one of them procures a belt, Crocker and Donovan have been put in each other’s way. The animosity between them has become real, absolutely, but it has rarely strayed towards being personal.
“It’s just what’s on the line,” Crocker says. “If we were brothers, with a world title on the line we’re still going to fight. There are life-changing opportunities here.
“I have the better resume for sure,” Crocker insists, building his case. “Without a doubt, I’m the heavier-handed guy. I’m the bigger puncher in this fight. He’s definitely underestimating me. I’m not underestimating him.
“Am I going to lose against Paddy Donovan? Absolutely fucking not. I’ve got under his skin already. He’s nervous. I’m too big, too strong. Nobody is going to stop me from getting to where I want to go.”
And yet there is always that slightly begrudging respect that pervades their rivalry, like when Crocker finds himself praising Donovan’s accuracy before interjecting upon himself, “but that’s people making stupid mistakes!”
“I know what’s going to happen,” he adds. “I have everything visualised. I feel so good about this.
“I’ve never given up on the dream. He’ll not be able to stop me or knock me out. For sure. I’ll fight down to the last breath.
“It’s going to be fireworks. I couldn’t care less about any build-up or whatever because we’re going to get in the ring and settle it like men.”
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Donovan will tell you the same thing but Crocker can see victory. He knows how he’s going to do it. He’s observed Donovan for long enough, including from his couch between 2021 and 2023, to have internalised his pressure points.
These were the kinds of nights that Crocker dreamed of when his sister Alanna first brought him into the boxing gym as a youngfella.
It was never about the Olympics, it was always about packing out arenas and paying back the people he loved.
Irrespective of tonight’s outcome, Crocker is unlikely to have to look for a different job again any time soon.
“I always wanted to be a boxer. That was it. I had no other aspirations. And I always wanted to go pro – I never boxed senior as an amateur because I turned pro so young.
“And now I’m in touching distance of my dream of becoming world champion. Everything is starting to fall into place.”
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'I’ve got under his skin already. He’s nervous. I’m too big, too strong'
LEWIS CROCKER’S FAMILY are already stitched into the tapestry of Irish boxing through his sister, Alanna Nihell.
On 31 October, 2001, at Dublin’s National Stadium, Belfast girl Alanna faced a fellow teenager from Bray in what was the first ever officially sanctioned female bout in Ireland.
While Katie Taylor would eventually leave an indelible mark on her country’s sporting landscape, Nihell carved out a fine amateur career in her own right, twice competing for Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games and winning bronze in Glasgow in 2014.
But it will only burnish her own legacy that Nihell also introduced to the sport her younger brother, Crocker, who tonight hosts Limerick’s Paddy Donovan in a final eliminator for a world-title.
On the one hand, welterweight contender ‘Croc’, 20-0 with 11 knockout wins, has come a long way from Sandy Row. On the other, he hasn’t at all, really: the biggest fight of his life will take place at the SSE Arena, about two and a half miles from where he grew up.
There have been bumps on the road but the aim has always been the same.
“Even since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to look after my family,” Crocker says. “That’s still the main goal.
“Like, I remember my dad used to take me to boxing — we were in East Belfast at the time — and we had to walk it, we couldn’t afford taxis. And it’s a good trip, so it is, back and forth! And that was Monday to Friday.”
His parents’ perseverance paid off to a point. Crocker turned professional as a 19-year-old before he had even boxed as a senior in the amateur ranks. He was immediately earmarked as the next big thing out of Belfast, his first four fights lasting just a combined five rounds. Carl Frampton routinely championed him as the successor to his Belfast throne.
Even when Crocker’s momentum slowed with a series of points wins between 2019 and 2020, the general sense was that he remained an elite talent who just needed a rocket lit under him.
After a couple of more eye-catching outings against European-title-level opponents in 2021, however, Crocker’s career hit the skids through injury toils and inactivity.
During his year and a half out of the ring between the autumn of 2021 and the spring of 2023, he observed in envy the opportunities given to his fellow welterweight prospects, including domestic rival Donovan who swapped Bob Arum’s Top Rank for Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom.
While their careers gained momentum with sign-on fees and prominent fights, Crocker found himself applying for jobs at call centres to make ends meet.
“I went from main-eventing at the Ulster Hall, meant to take off, to… just skint,” Crocker says. “I’m still skint,” he laughs.
“It’s just like, what do you do when there’s no boxing? I had nothing, you know what I mean? And it was just a real tough time.
“I wasn’t good mentally. I wasn’t good physically.
“It was tough. At least I had my parents and my family, they’ll always look after me. It’s good that I can start to pay them back.”
Is the plan, then, to put them in a mansion one day?
“I wouldn’t take it that far,” Crocker laughs. “They can get a flat on Sandy Row!
“Nah, as long as they have a roof over their heads and they’re comfortable in there to a certain degree, they’ll be alright… [Mum] can still pay my phone bill!”
When he has to make a boxing decision — like he did when he linked up with Scottish trainer Billy Nelson in Glasgow a couple of years ago — the 28-year-old Crocker still rings sister Alanna, 11 years his senior and now a performance coach with GB Boxing.
Fighting Paddy Donovan, and taking a step closer to those life-changing riches, didn’t require much consultation, though.
The biggest Irish fight in modern times is almost unique in its makeup: two unbeaten, world-rated welterweights in a bottleneck and whoever emerges will fight for the IBF welterweight world title, which by then will likely be vacant.
Where typically Irish boxers in the same weight class would support each other and wave off the idea off facing each other until one of them procures a belt, Crocker and Donovan have been put in each other’s way. The animosity between them has become real, absolutely, but it has rarely strayed towards being personal.
“It’s just what’s on the line,” Crocker says. “If we were brothers, with a world title on the line we’re still going to fight. There are life-changing opportunities here.
“I have the better resume for sure,” Crocker insists, building his case. “Without a doubt, I’m the heavier-handed guy. I’m the bigger puncher in this fight. He’s definitely underestimating me. I’m not underestimating him.
“Am I going to lose against Paddy Donovan? Absolutely fucking not. I’ve got under his skin already. He’s nervous. I’m too big, too strong. Nobody is going to stop me from getting to where I want to go.”
And yet there is always that slightly begrudging respect that pervades their rivalry, like when Crocker finds himself praising Donovan’s accuracy before interjecting upon himself, “but that’s people making stupid mistakes!”
“I know what’s going to happen,” he adds. “I have everything visualised. I feel so good about this.
“I’ve never given up on the dream. He’ll not be able to stop me or knock me out. For sure. I’ll fight down to the last breath.
“It’s going to be fireworks. I couldn’t care less about any build-up or whatever because we’re going to get in the ring and settle it like men.”
Donovan will tell you the same thing but Crocker can see victory. He knows how he’s going to do it. He’s observed Donovan for long enough, including from his couch between 2021 and 2023, to have internalised his pressure points.
These were the kinds of nights that Crocker dreamed of when his sister Alanna first brought him into the boxing gym as a youngfella.
It was never about the Olympics, it was always about packing out arenas and paying back the people he loved.
Irrespective of tonight’s outcome, Crocker is unlikely to have to look for a different job again any time soon.
“I always wanted to be a boxer. That was it. I had no other aspirations. And I always wanted to go pro – I never boxed senior as an amateur because I turned pro so young.
“And now I’m in touching distance of my dream of becoming world champion. Everything is starting to fall into place.”
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