Irish boxer Paddy Donovan accused the referee of ‘taking his dreams away’ after he was dramatically disqualified during his fight against Lewis Crocker.
Donovan appeared to be in control of his much-anticipated bout with Northern Irishman Crocker and was well ahead on all three judges’ scorecards heading into the final few rounds.
But Donovan was then controversially disqualified for landing a shot after the bell at the end of the eighth round.
The decision provoked an angry response from fans in Belfast’s SEE Arena and chaos inside the ring as Donovan initially began to celebrate, presuming the referee was waving the fight off for a knockout.
But referee Marcus McDonnell was in fact disqualifying him for the late punch, having already docked the Irishman for headbutting earlier in the fight.
Donovan fell to his knee as he took in the verdict and accused the referee of ‘taking my dreams away’ in an emotional interview in the ring.
‘Listen to the crowd, the crowd can tell you,’ he told DAZN. ‘I won the fight, I was winning every single round.
‘I dropped him, I was beating him up and I was getting the knockout. The crowd is ferocious in here.
‘They say I hit him after the bell but I thought I hit him on the bell. You can see Lewis was a beaten man and I won the fight fair and square.
‘The ref took my dreams away tonight. We’re going to appeal the decision and I want an automatic rematch right on the spot.’
Crocker, meanwhile, said: ‘That’s not how I would want to win a fight.
‘I heard the bell and I can’t see because I’ve been getting hit with the head, I dropped my hands and that’s what caused the knockdown.
‘Our plan was to work in the second half of the fight. I was continually hit with the head, got hit with the elbow at one stage but that’s not how I want to win.
‘I heard the bell, dropped my hands, couldn’t see because of the previous headbutts and the punch came out of nowhere after the bell.’
Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn added: ‘You don’t want the fight to finish like that. It was a good fight.
‘Paddy Donovan was controlling the fight. The points were making it interesting, you feel like Crocker had to force the fight for the last few rounds and Paddy was sensational.
‘The shot was after the bell. Did it warrant an instant disqualification? Are you tallying up the headbutts during the fight as well? For me, I want to see it again.
‘I think Lewis Crocker’s in a position now, he’s mandatory for the world title. I’m sure those guys will appeal to the IBF.
‘Lewis Crocker doesn’t have to do anything. He can sit there for a shot at the world title. The reality is there’s going to be a lot of people wanting to see this fight again.
‘We know what controversy does. It builds into massive fights, massive rematches. The rematch of this fight is huge.
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‘But will Crocker want it? What will the IBF say? We’ll have to see what happens over the next couple of weeks.
‘Honestly, as a promoter for both, I want to see the fight again and I want to see it play out.’
By winning the IBF eliminator, Crocker will now have a shot at the world title, though an appeal could earn Donovan an immediate rematch.
Both fighters boasted unbeaten records before Crocker sealed a controversial and dramatic victory over Donovan by way of disqualification.
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