LIMERICK WELTERWEIGHT PADDY Donovan will face former British lightweight champion Lewis Ritson in Leeds on Saturday 25 May.

Donovan (13-0, 10KOs), who is trained by his fellow Treaty County man Andy Lee, will face aggressive Newcastle native Ritson (23-3, 13KOs) on the undercard of Josh Taylor’s rescheduled rematch with Jack Catterall at the First Direct Arena.

The 25-year-old ‘Real Deal’ enters his bout with Ritson on the back of three impressive stoppage victories on the spin, two of them on Katie Taylor-Chantelle Cameron undercards at Dublin’s 3Arena last May and November.

His most recent outing was a seventh-round stoppage of Williams Andres Herrera at Belfast’s Ulster Hall in January, when Donovan became the first man to halt the tough Argentinian inside the distance.

Ritson, who will move up from welterweight in a bid to hijack Donovan’s career momentum, has been comparable inactive, fighting just three times since December 2021.

The 30-year-old Tynesider, however, is a heavily seasoned pro having shared the ring — and beaten — several high-level operators.

Ritson, who raised a significant profile on Sky Sports towards the turn of the decade, had world-title ambitions of his own until he was beaten on a split decision for the European lightweight title by Francesco Patera in October 2018.

He has subsequently operated around European level where he was most recently beaten by fellow Englishman Ohara Davies, who stopped him with a left hook to the body last March.

But Newcastle’s ‘Sandman’ still presents a tough challenge to a comparably inexperienced pro in Donovan, who is five years his junior and has boxed only a third as many rounds as the Geordie in half as many fights.

Victory for Donovan would likely nudge him up the ladder with the WBA, by whom he is currently ranked 12th.

Donovan-Ritson, along with Matchroom’s entire Taylor-Catterall bill, will be broadcast exclusively live on DAZN.