AS BOXING NICKNAMES go, ‘The Real Deal’ naturally carries with it a weight of expectation.
Some have worn it well. Evander Holyfield is the only boxer in history to have become a four-time world heavyweight champion. Amanda Serrano has won world titles in seven weight classes and helped to elevate the female professional code to unprecedented heights.
But far more ‘Real Deals’ have been disabused of their supposed legitimacy than have proven it.
For Paddy Donovan, November’s bout with highly regarded Englishman Danny Ball was always going to go a long way towards determining the bracket to which the Limerick welterweight belonged.
Trainer Andy Lee has insisted since Donovan turned professional in 2019 that he face a decent level of opposition but this 3Arena meeting with Ball — a 27-year-old with his own world-level aspirations — was designed to be a stiff examination of Donovan’s credentials.
And two fights out from Katie Taylor’s second meeting with Chantelle Cameron, Donovan passed that test in a blur of speed, style, and controlled fury, dropping Ball with a hellish left hand in the fourth round and forcing the stoppage moments later.
“We knew the task was going to be tough but we also knew it was a fight that could put me on the map in terms of the best welterweights in the world,” says Donovan, whose record in victory improved to 12-0 (9KOs).
“I suppose, every fight I’d had so far in my career, I was supposed to win. And even though I always work hard in the gym and prepare the best I can, it’s still in my head that I’m quite heavily favoured to win the fight.
“But this time around, I had doubters. There were people saying it was a 50-50 fight. It was on a major platform, obviously, and I was moving up to 10 rounds for the first time.
“It brought more– I guess you could say ‘pressure’, but it brought more of a push of, ‘This is why I’m in the sport.’”
And why is that, exactly?
“To win,” says Donovan. “To be in the best fights possible and to win them.
“I’ve always known how good I am. Andy has always known how good I am. Most of the sparring partners I’ve had — at least for all of my previous fights — I’ve been knocking them all out.
“I’ve been looking for that breakthrough and I got my chance on that first Katie Taylor card last May, and I took it. But the second time around, it felt bigger: the 3Arena was packed because Katie was coming up soon.
I love being under that spotlight. Once I saw the crowd, I just got completely excited. It was time to step up to the plate. I knew I had to perform really well for the Irish crowd; I wasn’t too far off Katie’s fight so I had to do a job and keep the place bouncing for her — and a job I did!
Impressive is an understatement!
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) November 25, 2023
😱 @PaddyDonovan23 put on a show on his way to a big win in Dublin.#CameronTaylor2 pic.twitter.com/h9yZ7VVC83
There is a poignant subtext to Donovan’s ring moniker which makes it all the sweeter every time he takes a step closer towards proving that he is, in fact, The Real Deal.
Neither Donovan himself nor trainer Lee — who definitely believes it — came up with the nickname.
It was instead the inspired choice of their fellow Limerick boxer, the late Kevin Sheehy, a five-time Irish-champion heavyweight who in a better world would currently be preparing for the Tokyo Olympics.
Sheehy, who grew up in boxing alongside Donovan, was murdered while walking along Hyde Road in his hometown on 1 July 2019. He was 20. He never met his daughter, who was born after he died.
Sheehy’s killer, Logan Jackson, is currently serving a life sentence.
“Kevin and I had a very close relationship since the age of 14″, says Donovan, “coming up at the same amateur gym; and not just at club level, but we were together on international duty for Ireland as well, so the bond was really, really close.
“His death came as a shock to us all, obviously.
“Just before Kevin passed away, I was getting ready to turn professional with Andy, and Andy said to me, ‘Paddy, what nickname are you going to pick?’
“So, we came up with a few suggestions but Andy said, ‘Stick it on your Instagram story and see what kind of response you get.’
“I was getting hundreds of messages suggesting what name to pick. But then Kevin text me: he messaged me on Instagram, messaged me on Facebook, and sent me another private message! And he kept saying in the messages, ‘Paddy, “Real Deal” is the name for you.’
“We were joking about it and didn’t take it too seriously. But obviously, when he passed a few days later, there was no longer a question as to what nickname to pick. There was no other choice to be made: it had to be ‘The Real Deal’ for Kevin.
“Kevin was a major boxing figure in Limerick and actually had a big fanbase of his own even as an amateur at such a young age. And when you’re a fighter from that same city…”
You’re also representing him, in a way?
“Exactly. And I have a very, very good relationship with Kevin’s family still. We’re always in touch. I try to dedicate my performances to Kevin and make his family proud.
I know it’s not easy for them going through what they’re going through. But when they see the light in my eyes and the fact that I carry Kevin with me in my performances, if I can bring a smile to their faces, that really brings so much joy to me as well.
Over the weekend just gone, Donovan was in Saudi Arabia where his coach enjoyed one of the biggest successes of his burgeoning second career in boxing.
Andy Lee was in the corner as Kiwi heavyweight Joseph Parker dominated the fearsome Deontay Wilder from pillar to post, earning an upset victory which put Parker firmly back in the frame for world titles.
It was Lee’s third victory as a trainer over Wilder, having twice previously helped his cousin Tyson Fury past the American. Wilder has only lost three times.
To put it simply, Donovan, who routinely trains alongside both Fury and Parker, is currently receiving one of the best boxing educations imaginable.
“The relationship with Andy kind of came to surface after my Elite final with Kieran Molloy in 2019,” Donovan explains.
“Andy thought I won the fight, along with Ken Egan.
“I didn’t think much of it at the time. I went back home — obviously in very bad form, really, over both the performance and the way the result went.
“But I got a message from Andy: ‘Hey Paddy. I’d like you to come over and I’ll do some work with you. I think you won the fight. I believe you’ve got the X-factor and you could do something really big in the sport.’
“So, obviously when you get a message like that from such an iconic Irish figure, it instantly changes the perspective in terms of how you’re feeling about yourself. It was a major boost to me. The minute I got that opportunity, I grabbed it with both hands.”
Both men felt an immediate connection during their first session together in Portlaoise Boxing Club, a midway meeting point between Donovan’s home in Limerick and Lee’s adopted home of Dublin.
“And here we are, still going strong!” Donovan laughs.
“I have such love and passion towards Andy. He knows the feeling of being in there. He knows the feeling of being alone, training. There’s nothing I can tell Andy that Andy hasn’t already experienced in the game.
“For me now, it’s about taking as much as I can from Andy’s experience: letting him pass on the knowledge that he learned after nine years with Emanuel Steward in America, or later with Adam Booth, and what he’s learned himself along the way.
“For Andy, it’s about putting all of that into one and delivering it to me. And I’m like a sponge.
“Basically, whatever Andy says, I do.
But even outside of working together, Andy would always be touching base to see how I am. He’s not just a boxing coach. D’you know, he’s been like a dad to me over the last couple of years.
“He’s been there through some difficult times, a couple of very tough years outside of the ring; I had a couple of deaths in my family and I got a bad hand injury within a period of 18 or 19 months, and then there was Covid which wasn’t just tough for me, obviously, but for a lot of fighters. Andy would always have been checking in on me during all of that.”
Through Lee, Donovan put pen to paper on his first promotional deal with Top Rank in the summer of 2019.
He recalls Googling Bob Arum’s outfit to refresh his memory as to the legendary fighters who became as much under the Top Rank banner.
Ali, Frazier, Foreman. Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran. De La Hoya, Pacquiao, Mayweather.
“And you’re like, ‘I can be one of these fighters if things are done right. I’ve got the connection, now. I can be on shows like they were.’
“It was a great feeling, and one I won’t forget.”
Earlier this year, though, after 10 fights as a Top Rank boxer, Donovan decided to switch sides to Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom.
The 24-year-old inked with the British promoter after impressing on Katie Taylor’s first homecoming card at the 3Arena in May.
It was a boxing decision, explains Donovan, who found his ambitions were incompatible with those of Top Rank at this juncture of his young career.
But the man Arum once famously described as “the best-looking fighter since Muhammad Ali” remains grateful to the promotional outfit who provided him with a blueprint towards stardom down the line.
“We had a great time with Top Rank,” Donovan stresses. “They were brilliant to us in every single way. But it was time for the next step on the journey — and that next step was with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom. It was the right move at the right time.
“One of my dreams is to fight in America, to fight in New York. I think Top Rank would have helped me to do that eventually but, unfortunately, over the last couple of years, I never got that opportunity.
“Eddie Hearn is beginning to spread his wings in America — and he’s also starting to bring shows back to Ireland.
“I’ve already gotten these two opportunities to fight on Katie’s cards at the 3Arena, which is a dream for any Irish boxer.”
It was laid plain in Hearn’s ringside interview following Donovan’s destruction of Danny Ball that the Essex man believes he has stumbled upon a gem in Donovan.
Andy Lee’s input was equally excited as he implored Hearn to start preparing for the idea of taking a world-title fight to Limerick.
Hearn, of course, acquiesced, but perhaps the idea isn’t so outlandish.
It’s understood that there is an appetite on Matchroom’s end to at least have Donovan headline one of their Next Gen shows in his hometown if such an idea proves feasible.
Donovan himself has grander plans in the long term, but a Matchroom show at the University of Limerick or somewhere along those lines — to begin with, anyway — would be quite the statement of intent from Hearn’s company.
“It’d be great to bring a show to Munster in general,” Donovan says. “Nothing has really happened down there in the last 10 or 15 years. Willie Casey versus Paul Hyland (European super-bantamweight title, 2010) was probably the last big fight we had in Limerick. So why not do a show there with Eddie?
“Obviously, Andy was supposed to box Billy Joe Saunders at Thomond Park a few years ago, too, and it fell through. So it would be a nice way to complete the story for Andy, too, to have one of his fighters in a main event at Thomond Park. We’ll see if we can pull that one off one day! That would be a dream come true.
“We’ve got a connection to Thomond Park through a great friend of ours, Jamie Daly (businessman and local activist). I pass the stadium every day and I’m always touching base with Munster. Obviously, coming from Limerick, rugby is very important to the city.
“But the main thing for the moment is that we’re working on bringing a show to Limerick, first and foremost. It’d be great not only for Limerick but for the rest of Munster to have a big show down here.”
Ultimately, there will soon be a void in Irish boxing left by the flagship former amateur stars who are deep into the championship rounds of their respective professional careers.
Katie Taylor and Michael Conlan are the two biggest ticket-sellers in the country and it’s conceivable that, by 2025, they’ll both be retired.
The professional sport will soon need new poster-boys and poster-girls if the momentum of Matchroom’s two recent 3Arena shows is to be sustained.
And Donovan is convinced that he can pick the whole thing up and drive it on.
“It’s just that, psychologically, in my head — and not just now, but for the last seven or eight years — I’ve felt like I am the best fighter in Ireland. I really, really do believe that,” he says.
“I know it — just from the sparring, the fights, the performances. I genuinely can’t even remember the last time I lost a spar. It must have been over 10 years ago.
“I’ve sparred all the Elite champions. So many former world amateur champions. I know exactly how good I am.
Katie Taylor knows exactly how good I am: I was one of her sparring partners for many years. Michael Conlan the same. And in order to take their places, you need to be something special. The Irish crowd isn’t easily fooled. You can’t just be flashy outside of the ring, a great talker; you have to perform as well as being able to talk and having ‘the look’.
“I have one of the best boxing teams in the world around me and I think I could be the driving force for Irish boxing into the future.
“But there’s also a platform that can be shared: I see Callum Walsh is doing great in America and it’d be nice to see him fighting back in Ireland soon. You have Gary Cully, you have Thomas Carty, a lot of great young fighters coming through.
We have an opportunity now in Ireland where, instead of having to run to England or run to America for fights — where a lot of Irish talent has been mistreated, misled as the ‘away’ fighter — we can hopefully do it at home.
In the meantime, Andy Lee’s most difficult task as Paddy Donovan’s trainer will be to simply keep hold of the reins.
“If I had the chance right now to fight for a world title, I promise you I would take that chance,” Donovan says.
“Andy is taming me, keeping me controlled!” he laughs. “I know I’m still learning. I know I’m a lot better now than I was a couple of years ago, I’m improving all the time in the gym.
“Andy is trying to stretch that out and pick the right fights at the right time, and then we’ll eventually fight for that world title.
“But I wouldn’t shy away from any welterweight in the world right now. I think I could hold my own with them all.”
Donovan will return to the ring in Belfast on 27 January against an opponent who has yet to be determined.
Then, in the spring, the plan is to fight “either in New York City or in Limerick City — one or the other.”
“And then back in May as the co-main event to Katie at Croke Park…” Donovan laughs. “Hopefully!”
