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Over 15,000 tickets already sold for Crocker and Donovan's all-Irish world-title fight

Over 15,000 tickets already sold for Crocker and Donovan's all-Irish world-title fight

The 428 hours ago
OVER 15,000 TICKETS have already been sold for next month's all-Irish world-title fight between Lewis Crocker and Paddy Donovan at Windsor Park, Matchroom Boxing have confirmed.
Belfast's Crocker (21-0, 11KOs) and Limerick's Donovan (14-1, 11KOs) will rematch at the home of Northern Irish football for the IBF welterweight world title on Saturday, 13 September.
Tickets went on sale last week but Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn confirmed on Thursday morning that over 15,000 of them have already been snapped up with more than five weeks remaining, with pitchside tickets 'completely sold out'.
A small number of cheaper tickets (around €52) are still available on Ticketmaster, while undercard boxers can also be contacted directly via social media for tickets.
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'Let's sell this place out for the first ever all-Irish world title fight,' Hearn said.
In over a century and a half of professional boxing under the Queensberry rules, no two Irish-born fighters have ever fought each other for a world-title belt in any weight class.
September's encounter will see either Crocker or Donovan join Katie Taylor as one of only two reigning Irish world champions, although Belfast's world-class super-featherweight Anthony Cacace is effectively in that same company having vacated his IBF title to avoid a mandatory challenge and instead take more lucrative fights with British rivals, which he has won.
Crocker and Donovan's original bout at Belfast's SSE Arena was, in its own right, one the most significant to take place between two Irish boxers in the modern era.
In what was a final eliminator for Boots Ennis' IBF title (Ennis has since vacated the belt and moved up in weight), Donovan and trainer Andy Lee were left furious when the previously unbeaten Limerick man was disqualified for knocking down Belfast's Crocker after the bell had sounded to end the eighth round.
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Donovan had already been harshly deducted two points for head clashes by English referee Marcus McDonnell, who deemed his third punishable foul to be worthy of a DQ.
To that point, Donovan had dominated a compelling contest against his rival from the north, earning a legitimate knockdown of Crocker and leading the Belfast man 69-63 x2 and 67-65 on the three judges' scorecards before being disqualified for his illegal blow.
Remaining tickets for Crocker-Donovan II are available here.
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