So parochial is the Clash of Cavan that you only have to watch a Drumgoon vs. Shercock GAA clash to understand what Dominic Donegan’s victory will come down to. [5(1)-3(0)-1].
‘La Bomba’ assures that skill and talent count for very little when neighboring towns are on the pitch, and points out that hunger is the key ingredient for victory when it comes to the ever-contested derbies.
Similarly, the recent BUI title challenger Celtic believes that guts will outweigh cunning when the two city fighters square off at the Europa Hotel on Saturday night.
Donegan faces Owen Duffy [5(2)-2(1)] on Eric Donovan’s EU Title Bet undercard live on TG4 this Saturday night and he’s convinced the fight will be decided by who wants victory the most.
“Everyone in Cavan is excited about, well, I say Cavan, but it’s everyone in our parish,” he tells Irish-boxing.com.
“I am Drumgoon and this is Shercock, they are a stone’s throw from each other. We’re practically neighbors and I know that when Drumgoon and Shercock play a game of football against each other it’s never the better team that wins, it’s the one who is hungrier that day.
“I think this fight will come down to that as well. It won’t matter who’s the better fighter, it’s about who wants it more. There is a lot at stake, there is a lot of pride at stake, people also say that you have the right to brag, but it is pride.
‘The Butcher Boy’ Duffy, who is trained by Donegan’s former amateur trainer Frick McMahon, has downplayed the derby nature of the tie, preferring to watch as he would any fight.
However, Donegan has a different approach to the fighter who lined up for Cavan at the U-14 and U-16 county level side and sees it as a War of the Buttons-style local rivalry.
It’s not that the man from Cavan has any desire to secure bragging rights, it’s that he’s afraid of being known around town as the man who lost to someone from Shercock.
“I don’t want to walk into my local store and hear ‘Owen beat you’ or even our local pub when people have a few drinks and say ‘Owen beat you.’ I’m going to do everything I can to make sure people can’t tell me that.”
Making sure to prevent that from happening won’t be easy, he admits. Donegan believes the 28-year-old Duffy will be as motivated as he is, arguing that it’s a 50-50 clash.
“I think he is as ready for me as I am for him. It’s 50-50, down the middle. It comes down to hunger. I know that we will both do everything possible not to taste defeat.”
Donegan enters the fray following a title loss to BUI Celtic suffered in the gloves of old rival Graham McCormack at the same venue. He argues that the learnings he gets from that fight will stand him in good stead against his county teammate.
“I’m ready. This is my time now. When I lost to Graham it was give up or move on and giving up is never really an option for me. I know how good I am and I know if I had done this or that against Graham it would have been a fight. completely different. I’ve learned a lot and I’m really looking forward to showing it on Saturday night.”
