Paddy Donovan responds to 'filthy fighter' claim made by Lewis Crocker's coach

Paddy Donovan has responded to comments made by Billy Nelson, saying Lewis Crocker is 'a lot better person' than his coach.

Crocker's Scottish trainer described Donovan as a 'filthy fighter' after the Limerick man was disqualified in the first bout between the pair back in March.

Nelson was also critical of the Belfast man's promoter Eddie Hearn following the controversial SSE Arena contest and Donovan feels the Scot is 'taking the limelight' away from his fighter ahead of this weekend's world title bout at Windsor Park.

"I don't really like to comment on Billy, I think Lewis is a lot better person than Billy," said Donovan. "I think Billy is taking the limelight away from Lewis and the things he's done in his career.

"You could see Billy was caught in controversy with Eddie Hearn. Eddie Hearn is Lewis' promoter so to be running down people and always having a big row with everybody, I don't think it's a great thing to do, but look it's his opinion.

"If he wants to have an opinion on me, that's fair enough. I have my opinion of him, but I'll keep it secret.

"At the end of the day, it will come down to me and Lewis battling it out on the 13th of September."

Donovan faces Crocker on a historic night of boxing in Belfast this Saturday, with their clash, the first ever all-Irish world title fight, headlining a huge card at Windsor Park.

Donovan was disqualified for striking Crocker after the bell at the end of the eighth round earlier this year.

Andy Lee, Donovan's coach, described the performance of referee Marcus McDonnell, who also docked the Limerick man points in the sixth and eighth rounds for use of the head and elbow, as a 'disgrace' afterwards.

Donovan was well ahead on all three judge’s scorecards prior to the disqualification, with his team successfully appealing the result, and the IBF ordering a rematch.

Their first bout was a world title eliminator. However, Jaron 'Boots' Ennis has since vacated the IBF belt to move up in weight class and the title will be on the line when Crocker and Donovan clash again, with over 20,000 people expected to be in attendance this Saturday.