logo
Crocker-Donovan rematch confirmed for Windsor Park

Crocker-Donovan rematch confirmed for Windsor Park

Yahoo24-07-2025
The rematch between Lewis Crocker and Paddy Donovan, which has been upgraded to a world title fight for the vacant IBF welterweight belt, is to take place at Belfast's Windsor Park stadium on Saturday, 13 September.
Promoters Matchroom Boxing confirmed on Thursday that the venue, which hosts the Northern Ireland international football team's home matches, would stage the first-ever world title fight between two boxers from the island of Ireland.
The welterweight title was previously held by American Jaron 'Boots' Ennis.
The first meeting between the pair on 1 March was a final eliminator for the IBF title and ended in controversial fashion with Crocker taking the win by disqualification in front of a 8,500 crowd at the SSE Arena in his native Belfast.
Limerick fighter Donovan, who had twice previously been deducted points, was thrown out at the end of the eighth round for punching after the bell.
An appeal from Donovan's team resulted in the IBF granting a rematch which would again serve as a final eliminator for the world title but with champion Ennis moving up to the light-middleweight, the belt became vacant.
Windsor Park last hosted a boxing event in August 2018 when two-weight world champion Carl Frampton defeated Luke Jackson of Australia.
'It's going to be exceptional'
Speaking to BBC Sport NI, Crocker said: "Unbelievable. As a kid all I wanted to do was to fight for a world title. To fight at Windsor Park is a dream.
"I can't imagine what it's going to be like to fight for a world title there. The first all-Irish world title fight. It's history.
"The controversy from the last fight makes it even bigger. It's going to be exceptional. The rematch should happen 100%. I wanted the rematch to put things right."
Crocker's victory made it 21 wins from 21 fights for the Belfast boxer but the 28-year-old was not happy with his level of performance.
"I underperformed massively in the first fight so to go in as an underdog and prove everyone wrong, and win a world title at Windsor Park - I'll take that all day long.
"I'd be a happy man until I die if I win a world title, especially at Windsor Park.
"The atmosphere is going to be electric. Obviously he [Donovan] will have his support as well but my friends and family and the people of Belfast will back me."
Boxing schedule and results 2025
Watch every Born to Brawl episode
More boxing from the BBC
Notifications, social media and more with BBC Sport
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Kate Douglass wins world swimming champs showdown with world record holder
Kate Douglass wins world swimming champs showdown with world record holder

Yahoo

time5 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Kate Douglass wins world swimming champs showdown with world record holder

Last summer, Kate Douglass won the Olympic 200m breaststroke title in the absence of world record holder Evgeniia Chikunova. On Friday, she crushed Chikunova for the world title, consolidating her dominance in the event and her standing among the world's most versatile swimmers. Douglass prevailed in 2 minutes, 18.50 seconds in Singapore, beating Chikunova by 1.46 seconds. It's an American record and the second-fastest time in history. It was their first head-to-head in a major international long course meet. Chikunova, a neutral athlete from Russia, was absent in past years due to restrictions on Russian athletes since the invasion of Ukraine. SWIMMING WORLDS: Results | Broadcast Schedule At previous worlds in the 200m breast, Douglass earned bronze (2022) and silver (2023, 2024). She's also a two-time world champion in the 200m individual medley and a world silver medalist in the 50m free and 100m breast. Including relays, Douglass has 17 long-course world championships medals — all since 2022 — breaking her tie with Missy Franklin for fourth in U.S. women's history behind Katie Ledecky (29), Natalie Coughlin (20) and Simone Manuel (18). "Being a professional swimmer was never something I thought would be my career, especially going into college," Douglass, a 15-time NCAA champion at Virginia from 2020-23, said in early spring. "I kind of thought it would be four years of college swimming, and I would retire just like a normal college athlete." Also Friday, Dutchwoman Marrit Steenbergen repeated as world champion in the 100m free in 52.55, beating Australian Mollie O'Callaghan by 12 hundredths. Torri Huske, among the U.S. swimmers affected to varying degrees by acute gastroenteritis over the last week, earned bronze. World record holder Qin Haiyang of China claimed a third consecutive world title in the 200m breast after tying for 10th at the Paris Olympics and making this final in the last qualifying spot. American A.J. Pouch led at the 150-meter mark and ended up fifth. Hungary's Hubert Kos won his second world title in the 200m backstroke, adding to his Olympic gold in the event. He was under American Aaron Peirsol's world record pace at 150 and touched in 1:53.19, the world's best time in 10 years. Worlds continue through Sunday with preliminary heats at 10 p.m. ET and finals at 7 a.m., live on Peacock. Saturday's finals feature the most anticipated race of the meet — the women's 800m free with Katie Ledecky eyeing a record-breaking seventh world title in one event. She'll face Summer McIntosh, who is two golds away from becoming the second swimmer to win five individual events at one worlds after Michael Phelps. undefinedundefined

Meet Irishman Adam Gibbs, Penn State's punter commit and college football's newest ‘superfan'
Meet Irishman Adam Gibbs, Penn State's punter commit and college football's newest ‘superfan'

New York Times

time7 hours ago

  • New York Times

Meet Irishman Adam Gibbs, Penn State's punter commit and college football's newest ‘superfan'

Adam Gibbs first started watching college football in 2024 at the age of 17. So when Gibbs, a native of Newry, Northern Ireland, found out from his coach in June that he'd have the opportunity to punt and kick in front of coaches at Penn State, it was time to do a little research and learn something about these Nittany Lions from rural Pennsylvania. Advertisement 'I found out they were ranked,' Gibbs said of a rather enlightening Google search he can now laugh about. '(That) they were in the College Football (Playoff) semifinals last year. (That) there was a good returning team this year.' And James Franklin? The head coach? 'The man's big time,' Gibbs said of the 53-year-old who offered him a full scholarship on the spot after watching him punt at Beaver Stadium this summer. 'Just out of pure joy, I nearly hugged him.' Gibbs, a 6-foot-2, 190-pounder with a big personality and a huge leg, will have plenty of time to learn more about Franklin and the Nittany Lions in the coming years. He committed to Penn State on June 29, one week after receiving the offer, and is thrilled to join the growing list of Irishmen kicking in American football. Last year, Gibbs quickly adopted three teams to cheer on, to follow the 'lads,' as he called them — Sean O'Haire (Richmond), Jack Scullion (Rutgers) and Paddy McAteer (Troy). O'Haire has since transferred to Maryland. Gibbs is just starting to realize how improbable his journey is. 'To be committed to Penn State, you couldn't even say it's a dream come true because you would've never dreamed of going somewhere that high,' Gibbs said. 'But now it's just like — it's insane. 'Before March of last year, I would never have watched American football, would have never had any interest in it. But now, in the past year, I've become a bit of a superfan. … I've just been sort of obsessed with the game now for the past year, and it's crazy and just amazing.' Gibbs grew up about 65 miles north of Dublin playing both soccer and Gaelic football — a cross between rugby and soccer. He was inspired to check out American football last year when Charlie Smyth, who grew up just 10 minutes away from Gibbs' in Newry, signed as a free-agent kicker with the New Orleans Saints in March 2024. Smith had previously played goalkeeper in the Gaelic Athletic Association and joined the Saints through the NFL's International Player Pathway program. Before signing with the Saints, Smyth had trained with local coach Tadhg Leader, a former professional rugby player from Ireland's West Coast who has made it his mission to canvas Ireland looking for the country's best punters and kickers to connect them with U.S. teams. '(Smyth) made waves in Ireland — a guy going from never playing the sport to (playing) in the NFL,' Leader said. 'So (shortly after) we had an open session where I was looking for guys for college football. Advertisement 'I remember this guy turning up who was just booming the ball comfortably. He was probably 16 at the time, mid-50s, no problem — 50-yard field goals that is.' That teenager was Gibbs, who at one point during the session kicked the ball so far that his mother had to hop a fence to retrieve it. Ireland's best athletes are typically kickers, Leader said, so it was common to see players at the practice boot the ball 50 or 60 yards. But Gibbs, at 16, was kicking more like a 20-year-old. 'After the session, just as I was talking to loads of people, I didn't get a chance to speak to him and I didn't know who he was,' Leader said. 'I just had this guy who was booming the ball on my iPhone, but I didn't know who it was. And then fast forward a week or two, some kid messaged me saying he left his hoodie behind at the practice. … And then I was able to put two and two together that that was Adam.' Gibbs was initially hesitant about attending another workout, but stuck with it at Leader's urging and began to train with him. A few months later, in June 2024, Leader invited Gibbs along on a pre-planned trip to the United States. Leader had a few other kickers with college interest in the States — including McAteer — but knew that coaches were still skeptical of Irish players and would need to see them on American soil before they were comfortable offering a scholarship. 'I was like, 'I think I'll take Adam just to give him exposure to the States and see if he's as good as I think he is. It was also for my own verification,' Leader said. The group worked out at John Carroll University in Ohio. 'He hit a 65-yard field goal and was able to kick off, putting the ball almost equivalent to (into the stands),' Leader said. Shortly after that trip, McAteer signed with Troy, whose special teams analyst at the time was Allen Tucker. This past May, Tucker made the move to — you guessed it — Penn State and coordinated with Leader to bring Gibbs to campus in June to kick for coaches in person. Advertisement Gibbs admits he had no expectations for his Penn State trip. After a layover in Amsterdam, he and Leader landed at JFK Airport in New York and spent the five-hour drive to State College talking about Gibbs' process. He had just 15 minutes to warm up before the 30-minute workout commenced in front of Tucker and special teams coordinator Justin Lustig. That's when Franklin — who was on one of his 'old man walks' as he calls his strolls around the stadium — took off his headphones and came over to chat with Leader. 'And then Adam's first punt that he hit, I have a good video of it, coach Franklin standing over his shoulder, and he hits, I think, 64 yards with 5.3 seconds of hang, which is just abnormal,' Leader said. 'After Adam hit a couple of bombs, (Franklin) then walked away with coach Lustig, and at that point, I assumed something good was happening because it was not normal what Adam was doing for a kid of his age. Coach Franklin just pulled me aside and said, 'Listen, would it be OK if we offered Adam a full ride right now?' And so then obviously I said, 'Yeah. That's why we flew from Ireland and drove from New York. That's why we're here.' So that was pretty cool.' Lustig was so excited that he pitched the idea of calling Gibbs' mother back home to share the good news. She was asleep — it was 1 a.m. in Ireland and she had to be at work at 6 a.m. — and was caught off guard, thinking something was wrong. 'I had to ring her the next morning just to be like, 'This is actually happening,'' Gibbs said. 'She had no words, but she was overjoyed. Dad was overjoyed.' Gibbs announced his commitment to Penn State later that week and has been mesmerized by all the videos of the crowds at Beaver Stadium he has since been sent on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Advertisement His Newry community still may not totally understand the magnitude of what's ahead, but he can very much feel the backing of Ireland as he gears up for his next chapter. For now, the plan is for him to punt and handle kickoffs at Penn State. He's not quite sure yet if he'll enroll early in January 2026 or wait until June. And no, he doesn't have any NIL deals at the moment. However, he's excited to experience a Penn State game in person, whether it's on a visit later this fall or in uniform the following season. One thing's for certain: He's pumped for the crowd. 'Over here, when I play Gaelic football, it's an amateur sport — I'm playing in front of 50 people every Tuesday,' he said. 'To go from playing in front of 50 people to playing in front of 107,000 people, it's a step up that no one at home can physically comprehend in their mind.' So, is Ireland the new Australia when it comes to supplying U.S. colleges with specialists? Not quite, but Leader is proud of his disciples and the impact they are having on American football. 'There's a new wave, a new community of these lads going over and doing it, which is unbelievable,' he said. 'They're all getting more perspective from each guy's experience. 'The guys have to learn from each other and they all feed back to each other what they're going through to then prepare the next guy. So it's a cool community piece that's part of it, as well — which Adam will obviously play his role in.' (Photo of Adam Gibbs and Tadhg Leader courtesy of Adam Gibbs)

'A great welcome' - Presbyterian minister behind hybrid rules event
'A great welcome' - Presbyterian minister behind hybrid rules event

Yahoo

time10 hours ago

  • Yahoo

'A great welcome' - Presbyterian minister behind hybrid rules event

Hybrid games between codes are not particularly unusual but the driving force behind Saturday's 'compromise rules' matches at Corrigan Park in west Belfast is perhaps not what you would expect. Presbyterian Church in Ireland [PCI] minister, Rev David Moore, is one of the prime movers behind 'Between the Sticks', an event which will showcase the sports of hurling, shinty and camogie as part of Feile Phobail and Antrim GAA's 140th anniversary celebrations. Scottish-Irish rivalry will be the order of the day as a men's shinty team from Stirling and a women's team from the Isle of Skye take on select hurling and camogie teams from Antrim. Both of the teams travelling from Scotland are being brought to Belfast by Rev Moore, who is part of PCI's special ministry in the west of the city, known as An Tionolann/The Gathering. The initiative is part of the church's outreach programme to re-engage with the people of west Belfast. "I started working in west Belfast in 2022 on behalf of the Presbyterian Church really trying to re-engage with the area," explained Rev Moore in an interview with BBC Sport NI. "There used to be five Presbyterian churches here but they are all closed. We wanted to be back here again, connecting with the community. "We've tried a number of community connect events and this is probably one of the biggest ones that we're trying because the GAA community is one of the biggest ones in the whole of west Belfast." The Presbyterian minister said Saturday's event is being staged in the context of "a great welcome" from the local community. "We could not complain about how warmly we've been welcomed. The doors have been thrown open to us and the encouragement to be here. "We feel a part of this community now, and this is one aspect of sharing that. "I was enthusiastically encouraged by Collie Donnelly [former Antrim hurler and former County chairperson] and we're looking forward to having a great connection between shinty and hurling, different codes but essentially the same cultural background." 'A day of fun and celebration' The matches, which are free to attend, will be played under shinty-hurling-camogie composite rules, with 14 players-a-side and aspects of each sport involved, meaning that each team is equally disadvantaged. Each half will last for 35 minutes, with teams using their own sticks, one half played with a sliotar, the other with a shinty ball. Like the scoring system, the goal to be used is taken from hurling. The first Shinty-Hurling match between Irish and Scottish Gaelic teams took place in 1896 in London. Annual international fixtures have taken place in both countries over the years with 2024's international between Ireland and Scotland resulting in a victory for Ireland. Ballycastle and Antrim camogie player Maeve Kelly commented: "It'll be a day of fantastic fun and celebration. It'll be amazing to see the skills of all the sports coming together." Terence McNaughton, former Antrim hurling player and manager, added: "It's a brilliant game to be involved in and a great game to watch, a great spectacle. "I've been lucky enough to be involved with the Ireland team the last couple of years and I've really enjoyed it."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store