Lewis Crocker (left) and Paddy Donovan after the welterweight bout in March
The much-anticipated rematch between welterweights Lewis Crocker and Paddy Donovan will not be staged at Windsor Park due to cost, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.
Northern Irish boxer Crocker won the original bout in controversial circumstances at the SSE Arena in March.
Limerick’s Donovan was ahead on the scorecards when he was adjudged to have punched Crocker after the bell to end the eighth round.
Donovan was disqualified, have previously had a point deducted on two occasions for use of the head.
However, the IBF upheld an appeal made by Donovan’s management, ordering an immediate rematch.
Windsor Park in Belfast staged Carl Frampton versus Luke Jackson on 2018
It was hoped the rematch would be staged at Windsor Park, the home of Northern Ireland national team and Linfield. In 2018, Carl Frampton defeated Australian Luke Jackson in front of 24,000 spectators at the outdoor venue.
However, Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn now believes the rematch will likely return to old Odyssey Arena.
He told The Ring magazine: “There’s now a very good chance it won’t be at Windsor. We will probably now do it at the arena.
“The issue with going outside is, with the costs and everything, you’ve got to be doing more than 20,000 tickets to make the delta positive of doing it in an arena with 9,000.
“That’s a huge amount of tickets. Would it do 15 or 16,000? Probably.
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn
“And don’t get me wrong, I love an outdoor show. But there’s also a lot to be said about going into an absolutely packed out arena. The atmosphere last time was f***ing mental and it’ll be even more wild the second time around.
“We are just finalising everything with the two fighters, and in late August or maybe early September I think you’ll see the rematch and the arena looks most likely.”
Crocker is unbeaten in 21 fights, while the only blemish on Donovan’s record was March’s controversial disqualification.