Jamie McDonnell
Encyclopedia
Jamie McDonnell is an English boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 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
Andy Bell (boxer)
Andy Bell is a British professional boxer from Doncaster in England. He is the former holder of the English and British super flyweight titles.-Early Professional Career:...

 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
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...

 professionally.

Title challenges vs. Edwards and Haskins

McDonnell's first fight outside his home town saw him travel to the York Hall
York Hall
The York Hall is a health and leisure centre and one of Britain's best known boxing venues.The venue is situated on Old Ford Road in Bethnal Green, London, England. The hall, opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200, stages boxing as well as providing a gymnasium and swimming pool.The hall is owned...

 in Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...

 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
Wigan
Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...

 on 8 December 2007. The fight with Chris Edwards
Chris Edwards (boxer)
Chris Edwards is an English professional boxer who competes in the flyweight and Super flyweight divisions. He comes from Stoke-on-Trent and is the current British and Commonwealth flyweight champion having previously held the British title at Super flyweight....

 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
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...

 man.

On 28 March 2008 McDonnell suffered his second defeat in a row having travelled to Barnsley
Barnsley
Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...

 to meet Bristol's
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 Lee Haskins
Lee Haskins
Lee Haskins is a British professional boxer from Bristol in England who has fought in the Flyweight, Super Flyweight and Bantamweight divisions...

. The fight with Haskins resulted in another close loss over 8 rounds with Haskins
Lee Haskins
Lee Haskins is a British professional boxer from Bristol in England who has fought in the Flyweight, Super Flyweight and Bantamweight divisions...

 himself coming off a British title loss to Ian Napa
Ian Napa
Ian Napa is a British boxer originally from Zimbabwe but now living in London. He is the former European bantamweight champion and is a former two time holder of the British bantamweight title.-Early professional career:...

 in the bantamweight division. The fight in Barnsley
Barnsley
Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...

 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 Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...

 and beating journeyman Anthony Hanna via a fifth round stoppage. Two fights on the island of Jersey
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...

 then followed with McDonnell scoring stoppage wins over imports Krastan Krastanov and Alain Bonnel before travelling back to Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...

 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
Ian Napa
Ian Napa is a British boxer originally from Zimbabwe but now living in London. He is the former European bantamweight champion and is a former two time holder of the British bantamweight title.-Early professional career:...

. The fight, at the Brentwood Centre
Brentwood, Essex
Brentwood is a town and the principal settlement of the Borough of Brentwood, in the county of Essex in the east of England. It is located in the London commuter belt, 20 miles east north-east of Charing Cross in London, and near the M25 motorway....

 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.

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
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....

 on 20 March 2010, resulted in a surprise victory for the man from Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...

 with a 10th 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 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. McDonnell chose to defend the Commonwealth belt he won against Ian Napa
Ian Napa
Ian Napa is a British boxer originally from Zimbabwe but now living in London. He is the former European bantamweight champion and is a former two time holder of the British bantamweight title.-Early professional career:...

 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
Frank Maloney
Frank Maloney is a boxing manager and promoter and United Kingdom Independence Party politician. He is most famous for managing Lennox Lewis to the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship of the World.-Early life:...

 said that a potential unification match with British champion Stuart Hall
Stuart Hall (boxer)
Stuart Hall is an undefeated professional British bantamweight boxer from Darlington, England. He is the current holder of the BBBofC British bantamweight title having won the belt after only nine professional fights, he has since made three successful defences.-Early professional career:Hall made...

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.
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