Paddy “The Real Deal” Donovan, who’s co-managed by New York attorney Kevin Sullivan and former world middleweight champion Andy Lee, dropped Ukrainian Karen Chukhadzhian twice enroute to a 12-round majority points decision in Mannheim, Germany, last Friday, setting himself up for a world title shot.
The win earned the Limerick product the International Boxing Federation [IBF] #1 mandatory challenger ranking. His next fight now will be against the winner of the IBF title match between champion Lewis “The Croc” Crocker [22-0, 11 KOs] and #2 IBF contender Liam Paro [27-1, 16 KOs] on June 24 .
Donovan described his victory over Chukhadzhian as his best as a professional.
“Chukhadzhian is very, very, tough,” he said in boxingscene.com. “He’s got great heart, great engine, [and] just kept coming forward and I had to show a bit of everything. A bit of maturity, boxing skill, punching power, fighting the inside, boxing on the outside. It shows a complete fighter, I think that’s my best win.”
Donovan dropped Chukhadzhian in rounds six and eight but the Ukrainian came to fight, and stayed in the game.
“Chukhadzhian is a world class fighter, don’t be under any illusions and think that he’s not. He is. So, to land in Germany and fight a home fighter is a tough task alone,” Donovan told boxingscene.com. “A lot of people ripped me off at home. A lot of the boxing world said I wasn’t gonna get this win, but I trusted the game plan, I trusted [trainer] Andy [Lee].”
Lee hailed it as the greatest win by any of the fighters he’s trained.
STEVIE BREAKTHROUGH
Stevie McKenna, the Los Angeles-based Monaghan knockout artist, is the latest Irish prizefighter to join the Zuffa Boxing promotional stable. He will make his long-anticipated return against American veteran Casey James Streeter on June 6, at the Bournemouth International Centre in Bournemouth, England.
Paramount+ will live stream the fight in the United States and Canada. It will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland.
McKenna, whose 14 stoppages on his 15-1 ledger have earned him the moniker “The Hitman,” has signed a long-term promotional contract with Zuffa.
He becomes the third Irishman to join the Las Vegas-based outfit after world-ranked Corkman “King” Callum Walsh, who also fights out of Los Angeles; and New York-based Tyrone super featherweight “Fearless” Feargal McCrory.
In Streeter [15-3-2, 6 KOs], the 29-year-old McKenna faces a seasoned foe out of Portland, Maine, five years his senior. A six-footer, the Irishman will also have an inch height advantage.
Streeter is coming off a fourth round TKO defeat to Leo Ruiz in February. McKenna is also hoping to rebound from his first pro defeat, on a majority points decision over 10 rounds, to one Lee Cutler in Liverpool in December 2024.
McKenna was an amateur standout, who compiled a record of 155–24. In 2015, he won gold medals in the light-flyweight division at the Irish National Championships and Commonwealth Youth Games, and silver at the European Youth Championships. In 2017 he moved up to the bantamweight division, winning a silver medal at the Irish National Championships. He was also a gold medalist at the Haringey Box Cup.
He turned professional in 2019 and has registered 11 knockouts in three rounds or less, including his three-round battle against Joe Laws in August 2024, before dropping that majority points decision to Cutler.
