The Limerick southpaw, 27, dropped Chukhadzhian twice en route to what seemed like a clear victory, but there was a nervy wait when one judge scored the fight a 113-113 draw.

Thankfully for Team Donovan, his victory was secured via the other two scores of 115-111 and 114-112. "This was the toughest task we have ever had to face," a beaming Donovan said of Chukhadzhian. "And it was made even harder coming over to Germany. Now it's back for the trilogy. Come on Lewis Crocker."

Donovan had told The Ring he was fighting to "change the narrative" of his career following back-to-back defeats to Lewis Crocker last year, the second of which was for the vacant IBF welterweight title.

He also admitted that he thinks about those losses first thing every morning and last thing every night, but Donovan knew he could secure the chance to put things right against his rival from Belfast with a victory over Chukhadzhian at SAP-Arena in Mannheim.

It was well past midnight local time by the time this main event got started, but only after the MC for the evening had belted out a rendition of O Fortuna. It typified a strange event in Germany, which also included a performance by a heavy metal band and some local rappers.

But southpaw Donovan, who shaved off his trademark bleach-blonde hair for this fight, was only interested in business against a man whose only defeats in the past decade have come against The Ring’s current No. 5-rated junior middleweight, Jaron Ennis. Donovan’s preparation had been rocked by the death of two of his second cousins, Scarlett and Jason Faulkner, and he carried their names on his fight kit in tribute to them both.

He vowed to win in their honor and made a good start, landing a couple of sharp lead hooks against his orthodox opponent in the first round. It was more of the same in the second, too, with Donovan finding an early groove and appearing to get himself ahead on the cards. In the third, Donovan landed a pair of perfectly timed left uppercuts, although Chukhadzhian got through with a right hand of his own.

But Donovan saved the punch of the fight until the final second of the third, when a hard left hook counter landed right on the button, stiffening the Ukrainian’s legs momentarily. But Chukhadzhian responded with a hard right hand at the end of a fourth round that Donovan had otherwise dominated.

He also controlled the fifth and then, 30 seconds into the sixth, Donovan dropped Chukhadzhian to the seat of his trunks with another left hook. The 30-year-old, however, managed to climb to his feet well in time to beat the count and made his way through the rest of the round.

He was down again late in the eighth too, although Chukhadzhian, who got up instantly, complained of a push as referee Diana Drews Milani started her count. The fight was rapidly slipping away from Chukhadzhian, struggling to pin Donovan down as he continued to pivot and counter against his marauding opponent.

But the ninth was a good one for Chukhadzhian, and he began to up the pace throughout the 10th in a bid to secure an unlikely come-from-behind victory. The 11th was far more competitive than the early rounds, although Donovan never looked in any real trouble.

And there would be no grandstand finish in the 12th either, as Donovan boxed well to keep Chukhadzhian at bay and cement his clear victory on the cards.

In the co-main event, the man described as Germany’s hottest heavyweight prospect, Emanuel Odiase, took out Englishman Nick Webb in the second round.

Odiase, who is handled by Anthony Joshua’s 258 Management, had a look at his 38-year-old opponent during a quiet opening round before turning up the heat in the second. A series of long, hard right hands did the damage, with Webb unable to beat the referee’s count after he was dropped for the first time.

Odiase’s team had offered this fight to another Brit, Johnny Fisher, but when the Romford Bull decided against accepting, in stepped Webb, who had boxed just once since 2024 before this fight. But Odiase (11-0, 9 KOs) proved he was a cut above his visitor with this clinical finish.

But it was a very different story for another of Germany’s promising heavyweights, Peter Kadiru. The 28-year-old passed what he had described as the toughest test of his career against experienced Senad Gashi (34-5, 32 KOs) but it wasn’t pretty.

Kadiru claimed a unanimous decision via scores of 98-92, 97-93, 96-94 after 10 hard-fought rounds.

Earlier, the youngest of the card’s heavyweight prospects, Victor Jurk (14-0, 12 KOs), did not even break a sweat as he saw off Edwin Castillo with the first and only punch of their scheduled eight-rounder.

The 6-foot-9 southpaw from Flensburg, Germany, ambled out to the middle of the ring and threw a speculative looping left hand that sent Castillo (13-3, 8 KOs) to the canvas, where he stayed, lying on his back, for around five minutes. It was Jurk’s 10th first-round knockout in 14 outings, and he will never have an easier win in his life.

Nelvie Tiafack UD6 Mateus Munhoz

Alexander Okafor SD10 Elija Uelkueseven

Oluwole Jan Ciosek UD8 Shae Green

Edmon Avagyan TKO3 Patrik Fiala