Lewis Crocker (22-0, 11 KOs) used his powerful left hook to drop Paddy Donovan (14-2, 11 KOs) twice to win a 12-round split decision to capture the vacant IBF welterweight title on Saturday night at Windsor Park, Belfast, Ireland.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom)
Crocker’s Power Punches Win the Day
It was a fight that could have easily gone the other way in favor of the clever, better-skilled Donovan, 26, but two of the judges favored Crocker, likely due to the small handful of hard punches he landed in each round. His offensive output was low, but the shots he did land appeared much harder and cleaner-landing than Paddy’s.
The scores
- 115-111 Donovan
- 114-112 Crocker
- 114-113 Crocker
Donovan was dropped by big left hooks from Crocker in rounds three and five. In the case of the second knockout, Donovan was fortunate that it came at the end of the fifth. He appeared hurt after he got back to his feet, and it’s questionable if he would have made it out of the round if it had occurred earlier. Crocker looked like he couldn’t wait to get to him as he stood across the ring, waiting for the referee to give him the signal to go.
The round ended just seconds after Donovan got back to his feet, which clearly played a factor in his surviving. In between the fifth and sixth, he recovered well. From that point, he wasn’t hurt in the entire second half of the contest.
The deciding factor in the fight was the powerful punches that Crocker was hitting Donovan with. Although the shots weren’t frequent, they were more meaningful than the lighter ones that Paddy was connecting with. He was mostly jabbing and landing stabbing lefts that didn’t have much pop.
Fans Call It a Robbery
Fans on social media are complaining about Donovan having been robbed by the judges. They felt that he’d done enough by outboxing Crocker down the stretch to get the win. It would appear that way except for the big punches that Crocker was landing. Each time he landed, he had the crowd shouting in appreciation.
With the win, Crocker, 28, is in a position to get some lucrative fights that could net him millions against these fighters:
- Conor Benn
- Ryan Garcia
- Devin Haney
- Teofimo Lopez
- Manny Pacquiao
