Paddy Donovan on missing son's birth ahead of Lewis Crocker rematch and poignant name

Paddy Donovan has sacrificed a lot in his quest to become world champion and he'll be hoping to get the ultimate reward on Saturday night.

The Limerick man faces Lewis Crocker in the first ever all-Irish world title fight at Windsor Park on what is a massively historic night, not just for boxing, but for Irish sport as a whole.

Donovan has been away from his young family preparing for the biggest fight of his career to date, with the vacant IBF world welterweight title up for grabs, and missed the birth of his first son during the summer.

"I just recently had a boy. I've got to see him once since he was born. He's two and a half months old now. I wasn't even there for his birth, I was in camp with Andy [Lee, trainer]," the southpaw explained.

"I've got a daughter Una who loves the sport so we'll see (if any of his kids take up boxing), it is what it is. Hopefully I can earn enough money in this sport where they don't have to do anything really out from get their education and look forward to doing other things.

"If they want to be boxers, they can be, but to get educated and push on to do things I never done, I'd be more happy."

The latest addition to the Donovan family has been poignantly named after the 26-year-old's uncle William who died by suicide in 2021.

"It's been a challenging time over the last couple of months at home," said Donovan. "I don't want to make excuses and things like that, but everything is good at home at the moment and even though I wasn't there for his birth, I was in the best place in the world in training camp with Andy. The wife mightn't be too happy, but she'll be happy when I get this world title."