"I told Andy I wasn’t happy I didn’t finish him"- Donovan would have preferred stoppage win last night

While it may have not been another stoppage victory, Eric Donovan impressed once again at the National Stadium in Dublin as he eased to a comprehensive victory over Spanish opponent Juan Luiz Gonzalez.

The Gijon native is noted as a stayer, and he proved his stamina by sticking with the Lilywhite Lightning for the distance of the scheduled eight round bout, though he never looked like he could spring an upset. Having taken European title holder Mark Vidal to a ninth round before being stopped, Gonzalez had proven form for sticking in there even when he is taking plenty of punishment.

“I started very fast,” said Donovan after the 80-72 win.

“It was bam, bam, bam – I think I was three or four rounds up and dominating the fight. I think it was round five or something that I took off just to kind of come back and said that I’d recharge and come back. But win as well and stick to the fundamentals and try and open up on him. And I did, just for the last three or four rounds he would not go. I could hear him wincing on the inside but he just wouldn’t go. He was very clever.

“But look, it was massive learning for me again against a good guy. He couldn’t handle me; he couldn’t handle my speed, couldn’t handle my movement and couldn’t handle my quickness and the intelligence shone through. It’s eight rounds in the back.”

The 32-year-old was slightly miffed that he couldn’t stop his opponent, but he took the positives by getting another eight rounds under his belt, in the process of retaining his Celtic BUI Featherweight title.

“Some guys are just conditioned to taking big shots in the head, so what I was trying to do then was to land ones sweet to the body because that’ll bring down anything,” remarked Donovan.

“It doesn’t matter how strong your chin is, if you get caught with a good body shot at the right time… and I did land a few times. I sunk them in and I could feel it.I could hear him wincing but I couldn’t get him away. I told Andy I wasn’t happy I didn’t finish him, and he said, ‘well I’m glad you feel that way because that shows you wanted to entertain and make a statement’. I just could not get him out of there, but I’m happy with the win.”

“I think I was totally dominant, completely dominant. I gave him nothing. I think the only time he had a little success was when I was trying to take him out because he was swinging for the hedges just in desperation. Nothing he planned worked out for him because I nullified everything, and that’s just down to my intelligence in the ring and my footwork as well and knowing when to step it up, knowing when to walk, and knowing when to breeze off. It’s all part and parcel of the game.”

It was the Athy man’s last fight of what has been a progressive year for his nascent professional career, and 2018 should present another mixture of challenges as the skilful southpaw looks to move up the ladder. Saturday night was the first occasion in which he really felt like the National Stadium was hosting a big fight night, and, as the bill topper, there was plenty of energy around the arena by the time he entered the ring.

There was also plenty of high profile faces from the world of boxing present, along with some of the most well-known people in Kildare sport including Johnny Murtagh and Cian O’Neill. It didn’t go unnoticed by the Lilywhite Lightning.

“I felt strong,” he said.

“My hands are sore and I need to give them a good rest and rest up over the Christmas. I’m looking forward to 2018, a big one like. It’s great to see a lot of high profile people out there tonight coming to support me.

“I just want to create nice memorable evenings for people and tonight for the first time and one of the first shows that I felt this is a fight night. I don’t know, there was an atmosphere out there tonight. It was really good, and I just got that sense of something else. We’re moving in the right direction.”

While one of the main talking points before this fight was the fact that former world champion Andy Lee was training Donovan after he lost the services of Dom O’Rourke who took up a new job as IABA president, meaning he couldn’t work with professional athletes. Lee has remarked on the ease in which Donovan picks things up, and on Saturday night it was interesting to note that the Athy man was immediately responding to the rare pointers that were coming from Lee in his corner.

Another notable man in the red corner was 25-year-old Unified World Bantamweight Champion Ryan Burnett. The Belfast boxer was the beneficiary of Donovan’s expertise in the build-up to his own world title fight, so he repaid the favour to an old friend.

“Me and Ryan go way back as well and he asked me to help him for his world title fight and I did,” remarked Donovan.

“When he heard that I was topping the bill over here and he had a bit of time off, he duly repaid the favour by coming down and supporting me. Boxing is a great sport. It’s a great sport where people look out for each other and help each other. There’s a great comradery and great community. It was amazing to see him here tonight and an honour to have him walk out with me.”

Donovan can now sit back and wait to see if a potential fight on the undercard of Katie Taylor’s planned homecoming fight next April can be arranged, while he will also be looking for two more victories to clock up an eighth win and secure a European ranking, which will progress his chances of fighting for a continental title.