# Jamie McDonnell (boxer)

Jamie McDonnell (born 30 March 1986) is a British former professional boxer and three time bantamweight champion, who competed from 2005 to 2019. He held the IBF bantamweight title in 2013 and the WBA bantamweight title from 2014 to 2018. He held multiple regional bantamweight championships, including the British title twice between 2010 and 2011; the Commonwealth title from 2010 to 2011; and the European 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.

### IBF bantamweight champion

On 11 May 2013 McDonnell defeated Julio Ceja by unanimous decision to win his first world title.

### WBA bantamweight champion

On 31 May 2014 McDonnell fought Tamadang Da Rachawat for the WBA (Regular) 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 WBO bantamweight champion 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 very tough fight for McDonnell, who got the win 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.
Shortly after his loss, McDonnell announced that he will be moving up in weight.
On 11 May 2021, McDonnell announced his retirement from boxing via post on his Instagram account.

## Professional boxing record

| 35 fights | 30 wins | 3 losses |
| By knockout | 13 | 1 |
| By decision | 17 | 2 |
| Draws | 1 | 1 |
| No contests | 1 | 1 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 35 | Win | 30–3–1 (1) | Cristian Narvaez | UD | 6 | 28 Jun 2019 | Allianz Cloud, Milan, Italy | |
| 34 | Loss | 29–3–1 (1) | Naoya Inoue | KO | 1 (12), 1:52 | 25 May 2018 | Ota City General Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan | Lost WBA (Regular) bantamweight title |
| 33 | NC | 29–2–1 (1) | Liborio Solís | NC | 3 (12), 2:33 | 4 Nov 2017 | Salle des Etoiles, Monte Carlo, Monaco | Retained WBA (Regular) bantamweight title; Fight stopped after Solís cut due to accidental clash of heads |
| 32 | Win | 29–2–1 | Liborio Solís | UD | 12 | 12 Nov 2016 | Salle des Etoiles, Monte Carlo, Monaco | Retained WBA (Regular) bantamweight title |
| 31 | Win | 28–2–1 | Fernando Vargas | TKO | 9 (12), 2:39 | 9 Apr 2016 | O2 Arena, London, England | Retained WBA (Regular) bantamweight title |
| 30 | Win | 27–2–1 | Tomoki Kameda | UD | 12 | 6 Sep 2015 | American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas, US | Retained WBA (Regular) bantamweight title |
| 29 | Win | 26–2–1 | Tomoki Kameda | UD | 12 | 9 May 2015 | State Farm Arena, Hidalgo, Texas, US | Retained WBA (Regular) bantamweight title |
| 28 | Win | 25–2–1 | Javier Chacon | TKO | 10 (12), 0:39 | 22 Nov 2014 | Echo Arena, Liverpool, England | Retained WBA (Regular) bantamweight title |
| 27 | Win | 24–2–1 | Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat | KO | 10 (12), 2:00 | 31 May 2014 | Wembley Stadium, London, England | Won vacant WBA (Regular) bantamweight title |
| 26 | Win | 23–2–1 | Abigail Medina | PTS | 8 | 14 Dec 2013 | ExCel Arena, London, England | |
| 25 | Win | 22–2–1 | Bernard Imon | TKO | 7 (8), 1:47 | 23 Nov 2013 | Phones4u Arena, Manchester, England | |
| 24 | Win | 21–2–1 | Julio Ceja | MD | 12 | 11 May 2013 | Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster, England | Won vacant IBF bantamweight title |
| 23 | Win | 20–2–1 | Darwin Zamora | RTD | 8 (12), 3:00 | 20 Oct 2012 | Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, England | |
| 22 | Win | 19–2–1 | Iván Pozo | KO | 2 (12), 2:11 | 3 Mar 2012 | Hillsborough Leisure Centre, Sheffield, England | Retained European bantamweight title |
| 21 | Win | 18–2–1 | Stuart Hall | UD | 12 | 3 Sep 2011 | Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England | Retained Commonwealth, and European bantamweight titles Won British bantamweight title |
| 20 | Win | 17–2–1 | Nick Otieno | UD | 12 | 28 May 2011 | Hillsborough Leisure Centre, Sheffield, England | Retained Commonwealth bantamweight title |
| 19 | Win | 16–2–1 | Stephane Jamoye | MD | 12 | 22 Jan 2011 | Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England | Retained European bantamweight title |
| 18 | Win | 15–2–1 | Rodrigo Bracco | TKO | 3 (12), 2:53 | 2 Jul 2010 | Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England | Retained European bantamweight title |
| 17 | Win | 14–2–1 | Jerome Arnould | TKO | 10 (12) | 20 Mar 2010 | La Palestre, Le Cannet, France | Won vacant European bantamweight title |
| 16 | Win | 13–2–1 | Ian Napa | SD | 12 | 22 Jan 2010 | Brentwood Centre, Brentwood, England | Won British, and vacant Commonwealth bantamweight titles |
| 15 | Win | 12–2–1 | James Ancliff | TKO | 1 (6), 2:27 | 4 Dec 2009 | Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England | |
| 14 | Win | 11–2–1 | Krastan Krastanov | TKO | 3 (8), 1:27 | 14 Feb 2009 | Hotel de France, St Helier, Jersey | |
| 13 | Win | 10–2–1 | Alain Bonnel | PTS | 6 | 25 Oct 2008 | Hotel de France, St Helier | |
| 12 | Win | 9–2–1 | Anthony Hanna | TKO | 5 (6), 0:45 | 19 Sep 2008 | Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England | |
| 11 | Loss | 8–2–1 | Lee Haskins | PTS | 8 | 28 Mar 2008 | Metrodome, Barnsley, England | |
| 10 | Loss | 8–1–1 | Chris Edwards | SD | 12 | 8 Dec 2007 | Robin Park Arena, Wigan, England | For British super-flyweight title |
| 9 | Win | 8–0–1 | Nikita Lukin | PTS | 8 | 21 Sep 2007 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 8 | Win | 7–0–1 | Wayne Bloy | TKO | 3 (10), 2:34 | 23 Feb 2007 | Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England | Won English bantamweight title |
| 7 | Win | 6–0–1 | Andy Bell | TKO | 3 (6), 2:22 | 1 Dec 2006 | Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England | |
| 6 | Win | 5–0–1 | Wayne Bloy | PTS | 4 | 13 Oct 2006 | Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England | |
| 5 | Draw | 4–0–1 | Dai Davies | PTS | 4 | 9 Jun 2006 | Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Neil Marston | PTS | 4 | 21 Apr 2006 | Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Gary Sheil | PTS | 6 | 3 Mar 2006 | Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Delroy Spencer | PTS | 6 | 2 Dec 2005 | Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Neil Read | PTS | 6 | 16 Sep 2005 | Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England | |