Paddy Donovan defeats Karen Chukhadzhian on points in the IBF welterweight eliminator and positions himself for a world title fight against the winner of Liam Paro vs. Lewis Crocker.
Irish welterweight Paddy Donovan did not need home advantage to claim the biggest win of his career to date. Donovan defeated the equally highly-rated world championship challenger Karen Chukhadzhian in a curious majority decision on points.
Donovan (15-2, 11 knockouts) sent Chukhadzhian (26-4, 14 knockouts) to the floor twice in the IBF World Championship eliminator at the SAP Arena in Mannheim. The Ukrainian was floored for the first time in round six after a precise left jab to the head. In round eight, Chukhadzhian was knocked down again after a right punch, although he judged the scene to be a slip. Despite the Irishman’s clear advantage, one judge surprisingly scored the fight a 113-113 draw. The other two officials saw Donovan ahead with 115-111 and 114-112.
With this success, Donovan also ended his negative streak of two consecutive defeats after the two duels against Lewis Crocker. Liam Paro will fight Crocker for the IBF world title on June 24 in Australia. Donovan is now in pole position for a world title fight against the winner of this duel. After his victory, Donovan said in an interview with DAZN: “Now it’s back to the trilogy. Come on, Lewis Crocker. We’re back.”
On the undercard, promising heavyweight Emanuel Odiase (11-0, 9 knockouts) needed less than six minutes to stop England’s Nick Webb (19-4, 15 knockouts) and secure the IBF European title. In another heavyweight bout, Peter Kadiru (23-1, 13 knockouts) passed the toughest test of his career to date, defeating Senad Gashi (34-5, 32 knockouts) unanimously on points. The judges’ scores were 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94. Heavyweight talent Nelvie Tiafack (4-0, 3 knockouts) also continued his strong start to his career, winning by unanimous decision on points over six rounds against Matues Da Penha.