Lewis Crocker drops Paddy Donovan twice to capture IBF Welterweight Title

Lucas Crocker and Paddy Donovan locked horns one more time on Saturday, but this go around was bigger stakes as the vacant IBF Welterweight title was up for grabs from Windsor Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland, live on DAZN. Crocker and Donovan battled at the beginning of March, with the former winning a controversial disqualification.  

This time around, things went a tad differently, which turned it into an exciting affair. Crocker dropped Donovan twice and landed the harder shots throughout to defeat a game Donovan by split decision (115-111 Donovan, 114-112, 114-113) to win the IBF title. DAZN News scored the fight 115-111 for Crocker.

"All the people who give me stick from the last fight, when you write your post tomorrow, make sure you write Lewis Crocker, world f—king champion", Crocker told DAZN in his post-fight interview. \

After a feeling-out process in the opening two rounds, Crocker (22-0, 11 KOs) sent Donovan to the canvas with a counter left hook. Donovon recovered well with a bounce-back fourth round. He looked to be on his way to also winning the fifth and taking control of the fight. But in boxing, things change on a dime. At the end of the round, Donovan pawed a lazy right jab, and Crocker fired another counter left hook to drop Donovan yet again. 

Donovan (14-2, 11 KOs) tried to come back in the later rounds, but Crocker put a punctuation in the 12th round by landing the heavier shots and becoming Ireland's first welterweight champion.

Below is what happened at Lewis Crocker vs. Paddy Donovan 2.