Ireland’s Paddy Donovan met England’s Danny Ball at welterweight for the WBA continental title on the undercard of Chantelle Cameron Vs Katie Taylor at the 3Arena in Dublin, the fight scheduled for 10 rounds.
Donovan controlled the little action in the first round working behind his southpaw jab. Within the first minute of the second round Donovan would start to let his fast hands go, landing a combination on Ball. As the round drew on Donovan would start to showcase his boxing skills more and more. Donovan landed a good counterpunch, followed by a rapid show to the body. Ball attempted to trade with Donovan in the closing seconds, but it was the Irishman who again came out on top.
Donovan was starting to really show off his repertoire of movement and shot selection as early as round three, Ball was looking far from the standard of the man from Limerick. Donovan was devastating in the fourth dropping Ball to the canvas with an eye-catching right left combination with under a minute left in the round.
The end was near with Ball just about making it to his feet before the count of 10. Donovan didn’t let Ball off the hook, pinning the Englishman to the corner letting loose an uncountable amount of left and right hands. As almost Ball slipped out of danger’s way, Donovan landed a smart body shot that caused a delayed reaction where Ball would take a knee. The towel came straight in from Ball’s corner.
Donovan looked fantastic in Dublin, this could well be his early breakout moment in his career. “Ireland has a new superstar.” Promoter Eddie Hearn stated in the post fight interview.
Donovan’s record improves to 12-0 (9 KOs) and will place himself nicely within the top 15 of the WBA rankings at 147 pounds. Ball’s record moves to 13-2 (6 KOs), also receiving a second career knockout loss.
