Jamie McDonnell


Jamie McDonnell is a British professional boxer. He held the IBF bantamweight title in 2013 and the WBA bantamweight title from 2014 to 2018. At regional level, he held the British bantamweight title twice between 2010 and 2011; the Commonwealth bantamweight title from 2010 to 2011; and the European bantamweight title from 2010 to 2012. He is the twin brother of fellow boxer Gavin McDonnell.

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 Doncaster Dome and scoring a draw over four rounds. On 13 October 2006 McDonnell beat Wayne Bloy over four rounds and in December of the same year he defeated future British super-flyweight champion Andy Bell over six rounds.
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.

Title challenges vs. Edwards and Haskins

McDonnell's first fight outside his home town saw him travel to the York Hall in London to defeat Nikita Lukin on 21 September 2007 in an eight-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 split decision after twelve hotly contested rounds handing a first defeat for the Doncaster man.
On 28 March 2008 McDonnell suffered his second defeat in a row having travelled to Barnsley to meet Lee Haskins. The fight with Haskins resulted in another close loss over eight 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.

British bantamweight champion

Following two straight defeats to British level fighters, McDonnell regrouped by returning to m and beating journeyman Anthony Hanna via 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 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 again, 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 bantamweight title also being on the line.

European bantamweight champion

McDonnell's victory over Napa allowed him to step straight into a challenge for the European title against the Jerome Arnould. The fight, in Cannes on 20 March 2010, resulted in a surprise victory for the man from Doncaster with a tenth-round stoppage over Arnould to lift his third title in a row. 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. He returned to the Dome for his second defence on 22 January 2011 beating Stephane Jamoye in a close contest with scores of 115–113 114–113 114–114 despite having a point deducted in the eleventh round. 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 McDonnell would have been stripped of his European title but there were no such concerns as he scored a unanimous decision victory over 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. Mcdonnell fought Hall on 3 September 2011 and won via unanimous decision to reclaim the British title.

WBA bantamweight champion

On 31 May 2014 McDonnell fought Tamadang Da Rachawat for the WBA bantamweight title on the undercard of Carl Froch vs. George Groves II at Wembley Stadium. McDonnell won by technical knockout when he caught Rachawat with a left hook in the tenth round; despite getting to his feet, the referee decided that Rachawat was in no state to continue as he visibly stumbled after getting up.
His first title defense was on 22 November 2014 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. McDonnell retained his title, defeating Javier Chacon via tenth-round knockout.
His next title defense was also his US debut, against Japanese boxer Tomoki Kameda, in which McDonnell was considered the underdog despite holding the title. Things were going Kameda's way in the early rounds, and he even managed to drop McDonnell in the third round. In the fifth round, things would start going McDonnell's way. All three judges thought McDonnell's performance in the latter part of the fight was enough, with all three scoring the fight 114–113 in favor of the Brit.
In the rematch, Kameda again started off strong, being the more active fighter during the first two rounds. McDonnell would then take control of most of the remainder of the fight, boxing intelligently and managing to drop Kameda in the closing round. This time, the Brit was the clear winner, winning the fight 117–110, 116–111 and 115–112 on the scorecards.
McDonnell next faced Fernando Vargas, as a late replacement for Juan Alberto Rosas. McDonnell used his high work rate and jab to establish control during the fight, dropping Vargas in the ninth round before the referee waved the fight off.
On 12 November 2016 McDonnell faced the WBA's #2 ranked bantamweight, Liborio Solis. It would prove to be a tough fight for McDonnell, who won the bout comfortably on the scorecards, despite many at ringside, along with the Sky Sports pundits, having Solis winning the fight.
On 1 February 2017 the WBA officially ordered a rematch between the two.
The rematch ended in a third-round no-contest after McDonnell suffered a cut below his left eye following an accidental clash of heads.
On 25 May 2018 McDonnell faced Naoya Inoue at the Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. Inoue was simply too good for the visiting fighter, managing to drop him twice in the first two minutes of the fight, forcing the referee to wave it off.
Shorltly after his loss, McDonnell announced that he will be moving up in weight.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
35Win30–3–1 Cristian NarvaezUD628 Jun 2019Allianz Cloud, Milan, Italy.png" />
34Loss29–3–1 Naoya InoueTKO1 25 May 2018 Ota City General Gymnasium, Tokyo, JapanLost WBA bantamweight title
33NC29–2–1 Liborio SolísNC3 7 Nov 2017Salle des Etoiles, Monte Carlo, Monaco.png" />Retained WBA bantamweight title;
Fight stopped after Solís cut due to accidental clash of heads
32Win29–2–1 Liborio SolísUD1212 Nov 2016Retained WBA bantamweight title
31Win28–2–1 Fernando VargasTKO9, 2:399 Apr 2016O2 Arena, London, England.png" />Retained WBA bantamweight title
30Win27–2–1 Tomoki KamedaUD126 Sep 2015American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas, US.png" />Retained WBA bantamweight title
29Win26–2–1 Tomoki KamedaUD129 May 2015State Farm Arena, Hidalgo, Texas, US.png" />Retained WBA bantamweight title
28Win25–2–1 Javier ChaconTKO10, 0:3922 Nov 2014Retained WBA bantamweight title
27Win24–2–1 Tabtimdaeng Na RachawatKO10, 2:0031 May 2014Won vacant WBA bantamweight title
26Win23–2–1 Abigail MedinaPTS814 Dec 2013ExCel Arena, London, England.png" />
25Win22–2–1 Bernard ImonTKO7, 1:4723 Nov 2013Phones4u Arena, Manchester, England.png" />
24Win21–2–1 Julio CejaMD1211 May 2013Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster, England.png" />Won vacant IBF bantamweight title
23Win20–2–1 Darwin ZamoraRTD8, 3:0020 Oct 2012Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, England.png" />
22Win19–2–1 Iván PozoKO2, 2:113 Mar 2012Hillsborough Leisure Centre, Sheffield, England.png" />Retained European bantamweight title
21Win18–2–1 Stuart HallUD123 Sep 2011Retained Commonwealth, and European bantamweight titles
Won British bantamweight title
20Win17–2–1 Nick OtienoUD1228 May 2011Retained Commonwealth bantamweight title
19Win16–2–1 Stephane JamoyeMD1222 Jan 2011Retained European bantamweight title
18Win15–2–1 Rodrigo BraccoTKO3, 2:532 Jul 2010Retained European bantamweight title
17Win14–2–1 Jerome ArnouldTKO10 20 Mar 2010Le Cannet, France.png" />Won vacant European bantamweight title
16Win13–2–1 Ian NapaSD1222 Jan 2010Brentwood Centre, Brentwood, England.png" />Won British, and vacant Commonwealth bantamweight titles
15Win12–2–1 James AncliffTKO1, 2:274 Dec 2009
14Win11–2–1 Krastan KrastanovTKO3, 1:2714 Feb 2009Hotel de France, St Helier, Jersey.png" />
13Win10–2–1 Alain BonnelPTS62008-10-25
12Win9–2–1 Anthony HannaTKO5, 0:4519 Sep 2008
11Loss8–2–1 Lee HaskinsPTS828 Mar 2008Metrodome, Barnsley, England.png" />
10Loss8–1–1 Chris EdwardsSD128 Dec 2007Robin Park Arena, Wigan, England.png" />For British super-flyweight title
9Win8–0–1 Nikita LukinPTS821 Sep 2007
8Win7–0–1 Wayne BloyTKO3, 2:3423 Feb 2007Won English bantamweight title
7Win6–0–1 Andy BellTKO3, 2:221 Dec 2006
6Win5–0–1 Wayne BloyPTS413 Oct 2006
5Draw4–0–1 Dai DaviesPTS49 Jun 2006
4Win4–0 Neil MarstonPTS421 Apr 2006
3Win3–0 Gary SheilPTS63 Mar 2006
2Win2–0 Delroy SpencerPTS62 Dec 2005
1Win1–0 Neil ReadPTS616 Sep 2005