Jamie McDonnell

Jamie McDonnell (born 30 March 1986) is an English boxer who currently fights in the Bantamweight division. He is the current holder of the Commonwealth, European, and British bantamweight titles.

Professional Career

McDonnell had his first professional contest in September 2005 when he scored a points win over Neal Reid at the Doncaster Dome. He won his next three fights before meeting Welshman Dai Davies again at the Dome and scoring a draw over 4 rounds. On 13 October 2006 McDonnell beat Wayne Bloy over 4 rounds and in December of the same year he defeated future British super flyweight champion Andy Bell over six. McDonnell's first title came in his next fight, meeting former victim Bloy on 23 February 2007 and scoring a third round stoppage to lift the English bantamweight title. The newly crowned English champion now had a record of 8-0-1 and had never fought outside of Doncaster professionally.^[1]

Title challenges vs. Edwards and Haskins

McDonnell's first fight outside his home town saw him travel to the York Hall in Bethnal Green to defeat Nikita Lukin on 21 September 2007 in an 8 round fight. His next fight was to be for the British super-flyweight title at the Robin Park Centre in Wigan on 8 December 2007. The fight with Chris Edwards would be the first time the British super-flyweight had been contested making this the inaugural contest for the belt. The experienced Edwards eventually won the title via a split decision after 12 hotly contested rounds handing a first defeat for the Doncaster man.^[2]

On 28 March 2008 McDonnell suffered his second defeat in a row having travelled to Barnsley to meet Bristol's Lee Haskins. The fight with Haskins resulted in another close loss over 8 rounds with Haskins himself coming off a British title loss to Ian Napa in the bantamweight division. The fight in Barnsley doubled as an eliminator for the winner to challenge for the Super Flyweight title which Haskins would go on to win.^[3]

British bantamweight champion

Following two straight defeats to British level fighters, McDonnell regrouped by returning to Doncaster and beating journeyman Anthony Hanna via a fifth round stoppage. Two fights on the island of Jersey then followed with McDonnell scoring stoppage wins over imports Krastan Krastanov and Alain Bonnel before travelling back to Doncaster to defeat Scotland's James Ancliff again before the final bell had been heard. On 22 January 2010 McDonnell got his chance to fight for the British title once more, this time for the bantamweight version held by the experienced Ian Napa. The fight, at the Brentwood Centre in Essex, saw a tough battle result in an upset split decision win for McDonnell with the added bonus of the vacant Commonwealth belt also being on the line.^[4]

European bantamweight champion

McDonnell's victory over Napa allowed him to step straight away into a challenge for the European title against the Frenchman Jerome Arnould. The fight, in Cannes on 20 March 2010, resulted in a surprise victory for the man from Doncaster with a 10th round stoppage over Arnould to lift his third title in a row.^[5] McDonnell made his first defence at the Doncaster Dome on 2 July 2010 against the newly crowned Italian champion Rodrigo Bracco and managed to retain the belt with a third round stoppage win.^[6] He returned to the Dome for his second defence on 22 January 2010 beating Belgian boxer Stephane Jamoye in a close contest with scores of 115-113 114-113 114-114 despite having a point deducted in the 11th round.^[7] McDonnell chose to defend the Commonwealth belt he won against Ian Napa in his next fight in Sheffield on 28 May 2011. Had he lost the contest then McDonnell would have been stripped of his European title but there were no such concerns as he scored a unanimous points decision over Kenyan Nick Otieno. Following the fight, promoter Frank Maloney said that a potential unification match with British champion Stuart Hall could be on the cards and that it was a fight that both the fans and the boxers themselves wanted to happen. Jamie Mcdonnell fought Stuart Hall on the 3rd of September 2011 and won via unanimous decision to reclaim the British title.^[8]

References