Paddy Donovan withdraws from World Welterweight title eliminator with 'significant illness'

Donovan was set to take on Australian Liam Paro in Australia on January 16th.

Thu, 01 Jan, 2026 - 18:28

Andrew Horgan

Irish welterweight contender Paddy “The Real Deal” Donovan has been forced to withdraw from his IBF World Welterweight title eliminator due to illness.

Donovan (14-2, 11 KOs) was set to take on Australian Liam Paro (26-1, 16 KO) in Australia on January 16th but after suffering what has been described as “significant illness” which has sidelined him from training and sparring for more than three weeks, the Irishman has withdrawn from the fight.

The winner of the bout between No. 2 rated Paro and No. 3 Donovan would have been designated as the No. 1, mandatory challenger for IBF Welterweight World Champion Lewis “The Croc” Crocker (22-0, 11 KOs), who Donovan has previously lost two highly disputed, heartbreaking matches in Crocker’s hometown in Belfast.

“I’m extremely disappointed to have to withdraw from the fight,” said Donovan, who is expected to return to training soon before being back in the ring by late March.

“I was confident of beating Paro. I missed three weeks of training due to illness and my coach, Andy (Lee), took the decision out of my hands.

“I want to apologize to all the fans in Australia who were looking forward to the fight. I will be back stronger in 2026. I wish Paro well and hope that we can fight in the future.” Andy Lee added: “If we don’t learn from our mistakes then we are doomed to repeat them.

“I’ve been in this situation before with my other boxers and it never goes well. There was no way Paddy could train and fight with the viral chest and respiratory infection he had, so I made the decision to pull him out of the fight.

“Paddy is still one of the best welterweights in the world with a huge future in the sport.”