Eric Donovan


Eric Donovan is an Irish professional boxer. As an amateur he was a five-time Irish national champion and won bronze medals at the 2009 European Union Championships and the 2010 European Champuonships.

Amateur career

Donovan boxed for St. Michael's Boxing Club, Athy where he was trained by Dominic O'Rourke. He debuted as a senior boxer in the bantamweight division before moving to featherweight and in 2007 to lightweight. His first Irish Elite title came in 2004 at bantamweight with a points victory over Brian Gillen in the final. Donovan would go on to win five Irish Elite titles.
In 2004, he competed at the Youth World Championship in Jeju, South Korea, losing in the round of 32 to Hoandry Lomba from Cuba. Donovan competed at the 2005 World Championships in Mianyang, China. He defeated featherweight Arash Usmanee of Canada on points, but lost in the second round against Viorel Simion of Romania on points, which he left and finished ninth overall.
In the 2006 European Championship in Plovdiv he earned a points victory over the strong Turk Yakup Kiliç, but was defeated in the second round against Alexei Schaidulin from Bulgaria.
In the 2007 World Championships in Chicago, he moved up to compete at lightweight earning victories over Miklos Varga from Hungary and Jonathan Batista from the Dominican Republic. In the next round he encountered the favored Italian Domenico Valentino, against whom he lost on points, which gave him a ninth-place finish at this championship.
He earned a points victory over Ross Hickey to clinch the 2009 Irish lightweight title which earned him a spot on the Irish team at the World Championships in Milan. There he won his first fight against Tajiks Bahodir Karimov on points, but lost his next fight against the Indian Jai Bhagwan on points.

European medalist

In March 2010, he defeated reigning world champion Domenico Valentino on points, which set him up for the European Championships in Moscow. There he defeated Rashid Kassem of Denmark before overcoming Dimitri Bulenkow of Ukraine and then Miklos Varga of Hungary which guaranteed Donovan a bronze medal. Finally, he lost semi-final against Albert Selimov from Russia on points.

World Series of Boxing

Donovan was one of six Irish boxers drafted in the 2012 season of the World Series of Boxing. Ireland had the biggest number of boxers drafted and Donovan joined the Astana Arlans of Kazakhstan along with Tyrone McCullagh during the international draft in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Donovan was victorious in his WSB debut beating Branamir Stankovic on a unanimous decision in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Despite narrowly losing his final bout to Vyacheslav Kyslytsyn of the Ukraine Otamans, Donovan was part of the team that won the overall competition.

Professional career

Donovan turned professional in June 2016. In his opening bout he defeated Polish veteran Damian Lawniczak earning a 40–36 points decision victory on a Ricky Hatton promoted show at the National Stadium in Dublin.
The Kildare boxer quickly racked up four wins in his first year as before taking on the first significant challenge of his career when he fought Welsh champion Dai Davies for the BUI Celtic title. Donovan won the title at the National Stadium in Dublin by winning every round against Davies and then went on to defend the title in December 2017 against Spaniard Juan Luis Gonzalez.
Donovan would win the BUI Irish National title in March 2019, knocking out Stephen McAfee in the fourth round.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
13 Zelfa Barrett14 Aug 2020Brentwood, England.png" />
12Win12–0 Joseafat ReyesTKO7, 0:511 Feb 2020Belfast, Northern Ireland.png" />
11Win11–0 Jose AguilarPTS623 Nov 2019 Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow, Scotland
10Win10–0 Moises MojicaKO3, 2:4222 Jun 2019 York Hall, London, England
9Win9–0 Stephen McAfee4, 2:2930 Mar 2019 National Stadium, Dublin, Dublin, IrelandWon vacant BUI National featherweight title
8Win8–0 Samuil DimitrovPTS414 Jul 2018 Good Counsel G.A.A. Club, Dublin, Ireland
7Win7–0 Ignac KassaiTKO2, 1:2617 Feb 2018 WIT Arena, Waterford, Ireland
6Win6–0 Juan Luis GonzalezPTS82 Dec 2017 National Stadium, Dublin, Dublin, IrelandRetained BUI Celtic featherweight title
5Win5–0 Dai DaviesPTS89 Sep 2017 National Stadium, Dublin, Dublin, IrelandWon vacant BUI Celtic featherweight title
4Win4–0 Laszlo HorvathTKO4 27 May 2017 National Stadium, Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
3Win3–0 Stefan NicolaeTKO2, 2:0425 Feb 2017 National Stadium, Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
2Win2–0 Krzysztof Rogowski2, 1:235 Nov 2016 National Stadium, Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
1Win1–0 Damian Lawniczak425 Jun 2016 National Stadium, Dublin, Dublin, Ireland