WEST Belfast favourite Tyrone McKenna took on Limerick’s Paddy Donovan on the Taylor-Pili undercard.
Tyrone hasn’t fought since his victory over Dylan Moran last September on the Donovan-Crocker card where Donovan lost by split decision. This was his second loss at the hands of Crocker which sent him down and out of title contention and left to rebuild. This started in May where he beat Ukranian Karen Chukhadzhian. With world title hopes Donovan knew he couldn’t afford to lose this one. As for McKenna, who retired briefly in 2023, the only pressure he feels was to make it a good fight for the fans.
Having spent the build up in Philadelphia training in Derek Ennis’ gym known as ‘The Dungeon’, he came into the fight in peak physical condition. The gym is known for its old school training regimes turning fighters into their leanest and meanest selves come fight week. This showed at weigh-in and despite being 36, McKenna looked as ready as he has ever been for a tough fight ahead with Donovan.
McKenna is the king of making himself and his fans believe he has a chance against anybody. His seemingly unbreakable chin, raw determination and genuine love of fighting makes him a fierce competitor. In boxing it only takes one punch to knock someone out and the Andersonstown man heightens his chances of success by getting straight to work and throwing hands. Would Donovan let the pressure get to him. Would complacency set in and was he already looking past Tyrone and onto the next fight? Could a fast start from McKenna rattle him? These we’re the big questions going into the bout. The pair know each other well having sparred many times but both claimed they were setting aside any friendship and during fight week there appeared to be a genuine animosity developing as the pair shared heated words throughout the weigh-in and face-offs.
Walking out to Óró Sé Do Bheatha Bhaile by Seo Linn, McKenna’s shorts emblazoned with the word ‘Aida’, the name of a Palestinian refuge camp in the West Bank where he spent three weeks last summer running a boxing training camp at the Aclai community gym. To have their name shown on televisions across the world would have been a special moment.
Both fighters started well, kept busy in the opening round. There was a big moment in the second as Donovan landed a thumping body shot that saw McKenna eventually drop to one knee for a moment to regroup. Donovan cleverly continued to direct the majority of his work to the body and landed again with a decent right hand before the second round came to a close.
McKenna started the fourth well, being more aggressive and commanding the centre of the ring, using his long levers to keep Donovan guessing. This didn’t last as the Limerick man landed another good right hand and an even bigger left to put him back on the offensive. Despite absorbing hard shots and bloodied face McKenna seemed to be enjoying the battle. With 25 seconds left in the fourth the referee asked the doctor to have a look at the gash above McKenna’s right eye and waved off the fight.
A disappointing and premature end to the contest. The Mighty Celt was clearly frustrated and stated later on social media that the game plan was to become more aggressive in the second half of the ten round bout. Unfortunately he didn’t get the chance to test what this might have meant. A good win for Donovan who would have wanted a few more rounds in the bank as he continues to clear his path towards another world championship fight.
