There were just three words of advice that world title challenger Paddy Donovan gave his young cousin Jim ahead of the 21-year-old’s debut on the undercard in Belfast this weekend: “Listen to Andy”.

The elder Donovan faces Lewis Crocker for the IBF welterweight title at Windsor Park, the biggest fight of his life. A few hours earlier young Jim will embark on his own journey in the paid ranks.

Like his 26-year-old cousin, Jim Donovan arrives in the professional game with a number of amateur accolades, having racked up no fewer than 10 national titles as well as a silver medal at the 2018 European Schoolboy Championships and a bronze at the 2022 world youths.

But unlike Paddy, he will also start his career beneath a spotlight given his cousin is on the cusp of winning a world title. But he has been preparing diligently for this moment alongside Paddy and under Andy Lee for a number of years in Dublin.

“I’ve really been training like a pro under Andy since I’ve been 14 years old,” Donovan told The Ring.

“Any time Andy and Paddy were in the gym, I have been in the gym. That is now six or seven years working away, which has been an incredible education for a young boxer.”

Given the presence of Donovan’s elder cousin, as well as heavyweight contender Joseph Parker and undefeated super-middleweight puncher Hamzah Sheeraz, there is every chance Lee could go from zero to three world champions before the end of 2026. As well as that trio, Lee recently accepted light heavyweight Ben Whittaker into the fold, too.

Lee recently told The Ring that he is at full capacity and, despite enquiries from some other high-profile fighters, he feels that any more bodies in the gym could affect the quality of his work. It means that 21-year-old newbie pro Donovan is one of Lee’s so-called "Fantastic Five." The exclusivity of the position is not lost on him.

“It’s very big to me” said Donovan, who, like Lee, will campaign as a middleweight. “I don’t overlook it, and I find it very intriguing. It boosts me, it gives me confidence to know that he has that belief in me.

"It’s great for my mentality to have arguably the best coach in the world behind me. We grew together, Paddy, me and Andy and then the newer fighters that he has. It was very big to me to link up with Andy and be in his gym, to train with him for the first time and we gelled so well together.

"I remember when I was 15 and on the pads with Andy, and he said I had the Kronk style. That’s what you want to hear as a 15-year-old kid. Paddy was his first fighter and, please God, on Saturday, his first world champion.

"I look to follow in those footsteps and achieve that in the coming years as well, of course.”

But while launching a professional career as a close family member to an established contender can open certain doors, it is a position not without its challenges. Donovan will likely face scrutiny and comparisons from the outset, particularly given how close he is to his cousin.

“We were reared as brothers,” he said. “Reared up beside one another. My dad and Paddy’s dad are brothers, and we all grew up together. Summer holidays, in the boxing gym, all of it.

“I first went in the gym when I was five or six and Paddy was already Irish champion. Paddy’s dad had a seven-seater, a space wagon. He’d drive us all every day from Ennis to Limerick.

“Paddy has always been there throughout my life. Paddy’s dad always used to say we have the same style, that we are the same kind of boxer. Now I think people will see me perform and say, 'Wait, Paddy has a cousin?’

“I don’t worry about being in his shadow too much, because I know where my head is and I know what direction I’m going in.”

Even so, having his older cousin to lean on in the gym will be of great benefit, which brings us back to his very concise advice ahead of Saturday night’s debut on the Windsor Park undercard.

“Basically he has just said, ‘Listen to Andy,’” Donovan said. “Just as Paddy does, whatever Andy says, listen. He’s the master, he’s the mastermind. I know I can’t underestimate anything and I know I need to stay disciplined and stay in the gym, work very hard, and that will give me the best chance of making the most of my opportunities.

“For me, that all starts on Saturday, and what a moment to do it – on the undercard of my cousin winning the world welterweight title. He has done that with Andy’s guidance, and I will get there too.”