Andy Lee full of confidence in generational talent Paddy Donovan

BELFAST – For the second consecutive week, trainers Andy Lee and Billy Nelson will pit their wits against one another.

Last Saturday, in Saudi Arabia, Lee’s heavyweight Joseph Parker emphatically stopped Nelson’s Martin Bakole, so this week the Scot will be hoping to draw a measure of revenge when his welterweight contender, Lewis Crocker, meets Lee’s Paddy Donovan.

It is an enthralling match, with Nelson confident his man wins based on Crocker’s experience in with better competition.

Lee, however, is adamant his fighter is the goods and has again referred to Donovan as “a generational talent.”

“I’m probably biased as well, but everything I say and whatever I might predict or if I say someone’s going to win a fight unrelated to me, eventually it’ll be confirmed and proven right,” Lee told BoxingScene. “And I have these feelings about Paddy and about how he boxes and how good he is and I think the same will be true with what I’ve been saying about him.”

It was when Donovan was a highly-regarded amateur that he first appeared on the radar of the former middleweight champion, who has since become a sought-after trainer.

Lee went to the National Stadium in Ireland to watch a tournament and Donovan sparkled in the semi-finals and finals.

“I thought he was something special and that’s only been confirmed with the training we’ve done over the years,” Lee added. “There’s just generational talents, I think, and you see guys like [Vasiliy] Lomachenko who are genetically gifted athletically and they have the boxing nuance and skill to go with it, just sometimes I’m watching him [Donovan], and it’s just a pure pleasure to watch when he’s sparring guys and he hasn’t even been able to open up on a lot of his sparring partners, he’s had to take it easy on a lot of them, it’s only really David Avanesyan who gave him a test and we had to get someone of that calibre.”

Southpaw Donovan is 14-0 (11 KOs) and, at 26, should be entering his prime.

Nelson says Donovan has not done enough to merit his high ranking, while Lee alludes to skills Donovan possesses he’s not yet shown, or had to show.

“Paddy’s talent and skill will take him through and bring him through,” asserted Lee. “He’s good enough to be at this level. I think he’s a better level than Crocker, and he’ll show that on the night. That’s what we’re here to prove.”