Andy Lee believes Paddy Donovan has 'X Factor' that cannot be taught

FORMER WBO World middleweight champion Andy Lee believes that his fellow Limerick southpaw Paddy Donovan has the X-factor and a talent that can’t be taught.

Donovan was on a wrong end of a unanimous decision to Galway’s defending champion Kieran Molloy at Dublin’s National Stadium on Saturday night after a pulsating all southpaw battle which lit the fuse on the 17-bout finals card.

Molloy is now in the driving seat for selection for the Irish squad for the European Games in Belarus this summer and the World Elite Men’s Championships and Olympic qualifiers in Yekaterinburg, Russia in September.

However, there will almost inevitably be calls for box-offs before Irish boxing chiefs confirm their squad for the first major qualifier for the 32nd Olympiad.

Lee, Ireland’s only boxer at Athens 2004 and a three-time Elite champion boxing out of the St Francis BC, reckons that Donovan, who boxes out of the Our Lady of Lourdes BC in the city, should have got the nod versus Molloy.

His view was echoed by Olympic silver medallist Ken Egan and Darren O’Neill who captained the Irish team at London 2012 where Katie Taylor claimed Ireland’s only Olympic gold in any sport this century.

“To me, Paddy Donovan won the fight. To me, Paddy Donovan is probably the most exciting young prospect I have seen in this ring in a long time, said Lee. 

“He might have not got the victory tonight but for us, he’s probably the biggest star to come out of Ireland for the future. He has that talent you can’t teach. He has the X-factor. 

”Kieran Molloy is an international standard boxer and if he goes on to qualify (for Tokyo 2020) he could win a medal.  Kieran probably landed the harder punches, maybe that’s what the judges scored. You can’t take it away from him, he is a great fighter.”

Molloy did detonate the harder shots, but Donovan, who has a style similar to Cuba’s current Olympic and World championJulio La Cruz consistently found the target with the slicker punches.

Three times in the last round, Donovan cheekily raised his left hand to indicate that he had found a way through Molloy’s high guard with sweeping right hooks. 

The 20-year-old, who had his dad Martin Donovan and Shane Daly in his corner, was understandably crestfallen after the defeat, but there’s a long road to Tokyo 2020.

“I won the fight but didn’t get the decision, insisted the ex-World Junior finalist. “(You) just have a listen to men that know boxing, Andy Lee, Darren O’Neill, Kenneth Egan, legends of the Irish game. They’ll tell you I won the fight.”

Meanwhile, Tipperary super heavy Dean Gardiner secured his fourth Elite belt on a unanimous decision over Martin Keenan of the Rathkeale BC on Saturday. Keenan started well but took a count in the Munster derby.

Keenan’s Rathkeale BC team-mate Nell Fox took home the 80+kg title on a walkover as no opponent entered against her.