Eric Donovan won his first professional belt at the National Stadium last night, earning a comprehensive points decision over veteran Welsh journeyman Dai Davies to pick up the Boxing Union of Ireland's Celtic featherweight title.
Fighting over eight rounds for the first time as a professional, former European amateur medallist Donovan – now 5-0 as a pro – managed to maintain an impressive pace throughout as he was awarded every round on referee Emilie Tiedt’s scorecard, overcoming an early cut on his right eye to take an 80-72 decision.
Entering the ring to a medley of ‘Curragh Of Kildare’ and ‘The Irish Rover’, Donovan had a corner team with a wealth of experience led by Gerry Storey and also featuring the veteran Belfast trainer’s son Gerry Jr and former Olympic silver medallist Ken Egan – the latter an ex-international amateur team-mate of the headliner.
Setting a quick tempo from the opening bell, the five-time National Elite amateur champion put his more experienced opponent – in a professional sense, at least, Davies being a 41-fight veteran – under pressure from early on.
Donovan used his jab well in the opener before beginning to work the body in the second and the 34-year-old Welsh visitor looked like he was breathing heavily in his corner after the first couple of rounds.
The sight of blood on Donovan’s face appeared to boost Davies’ work-rate in the third, the cut opening on the side of the home fighter’s right eye after what appeared to be a clash of heads due to the fighters’ conflicting southpaw-orthodox styles.
Massive tnx to all the fans last night, and 4 the texts of supoort from everyone. Huge credit to Dai Davies 4 a great fight, respect! ☇☇ pic.twitter.com/v1maMOH7oZ
— Eric Donovan (@eric_donovan60) September 10, 2017
Donovan’s team did a good job to stem the bleeding during the break, with the 32-year-old picking up where he left off on the resumption. Rounds four and five proved to be more competitive as Davies settled, throwing single shots, although the Kildare man’s combinations were more eye-catching.
While Donovan previously competed in five-round bouts in the ‘semi-pro’ World Series of Boxing, the Athy native had never previously gone beyond four rounds as a professional – bagging only 12 rounds in all over his previous four paid fights – so at this stage it remained to be seen if he could maintain such a fast pace into the second half of the contest.
He-old became more selective with his shots in the sixth and penultimate rounds, crouching before throwing cagey, measured hooks, although Donovan was notably using his jab less at this point.
A game Davies continued to battle and enjoyed some sporadic success with single right hands to keep Donovan honest and tuned in heading into the eighth and final round.
The former European amateur bronze medallist will surely consider the contest to be a great ‘learning fight’ as he bagged welcome rounds and precious pro experience against his veteran Merthyr Tydfil-based opponent, whose record drops to 14-26-2.
"I'm over the moon," said Donovan, a regular RTÉ boxing pundit, said afterwards. "I'm really delighted, but I feel like that was my first introduction to professional boxing even though I've fought a few journeymen and four other fights.
"That was different against a different type of guy and you can tell he has over 230 rounds of professional boxing against my 12 before this fight.
"He just knew at different times when to block you and grab your hands on the inside - little, small tricks and tactics that I was enjoying learning as I was going on.
"I felt like I might be able to take him out, but then I felt like I'd never went that far before and I was exerting a lot of energy so I relaxed. It was a winning experience for me because I done eight rounds for the first time, and proven myself there, and the fight was comfortable."
A busy night of action at the National Stadium saw 15 fights take place in all, with eight debutants featuring on the bill.
Bray’s Regan Buckley came out on top of the chief-support bout, defeating fellow bantamweight prospect Carl McDonald of Tallaght on a 59-55 points decision.
Baby-faced Buckley (now 2-0), a former National Elite finalist as an amateur, was too busy for his 28-year-old foe, who suffered his first defeat to drop to 2-1.
Earlier, Balbriggan welterweight Gerard ‘Crank’ Whitehouse boosted his undefeated record to 7-0 with a fourth-round stoppage win over Hungarian Gergo Vari.
Whitehouse dominated the bout as he consistently forced his opponent to the ropes with flurries, with the 22-year-old easing to victory before referee Emilie Tiedt called a halt.
All eight debutants on the bill recorded successful pro bows, while Dubliners Seán Creagh, Stephen McAfee, Bernard Roe and John Joyce also claimed wins over journeymen opposition on a busy fight night on the South Circular Road.
