By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

When former IBF World Champion, Paul Butler, 26-1, 14 KO’s came out the ring in February of this year having dispatched and taken care of Jefferson Vargas, 5-8, 0 KO’s at the 02, there was only one name on his lips and in his head; Jamie McDonnell, 29-2-1, 13 KO’s.

The WBA regular champion, McDonnell had struggled to shine in his last Monacan outing where it ended in a no decision as he clashed heads accidentally with Liborio Solis, 25-5-1, 11 KO’s.

The fight, in a casino, on the inside, with few in attendance to cheer is always quite a soulless occasion; you depend on the action to liven things up. A no contest is never good, but in a vacuous but opulent setting, it’s death’s own judgment.

McDonnell had taken on Solis for the second time, having found his previous fight, controversially won on points. He provided a dodgy performance which had silenced few critics and woken a few up. We began re-evaluating his world level status whilst Butler had been away rebuilding his career. Now Butler was talking of taking the Yorkshireman on for the WBA title, that McDonnell was holding.

Whilst a combination of Ryan Burnett, 18-0, 9 KO’s, giving up the IBF version and then the IBF telling Butler he must now face Emmanuel Rodriguez, 17-0, 12 KO’s, for his old title, probably on home soil, there looks like an end to the talk of a McDonnell clash; but it got me thinking about just what that re evaluation had brought me to?

The last two fights with McDonnell have not been helpful in looking over his career as they tell us little. The last one was stopped in the 3rd round and the previous encounter had been one that could have swung either way.

Both heralded him announcing, after the second fight, that he was going up in weight to super bantamweight, though that announcement does not seem to have been followed up with any real action.

It is easy to forget in the circumstances and barnstorm of disappointment and criticism that we are talking about a former, European, Commonwealth, British and IBF bantamweight champion.

Now at an elite level, Jamie McDonnell has lost only twice and has not been in the losing corner since 2008 – and not with a padded record.

A pro since 2005, the first belt to be placed around his waist was the English super flyweight title in 2007. What was quite remarkable was that, then, in his 9 fight career he had never fought outside of his home town of Doncaster.

Two fights after the English title win he was trying to add the British super flyweight title. It was history in the making as there had never been a British super flyweight title fight before.

McDonnell was to register his first defeat as the split decision did not go his way.

Having had one loss, he then suffered a second in a row when Lee Haskins, 34-4, 14 KO’s managed to defeat him in an 8-round contest. It was an eliminator to once again go in for the British super flyweight title; Haskins went on to win the title in his next fight.
It was the 28th of March 2008 and it was McDonnell’s last defeat.

10 years of fighting were to follow with no further losses on the record at a higher level.

Following two defeats in a row it was time to sort things out and McDonnell went back to basics and started winning again.

In 2010 he was back fighting for a British title again. The Commonwealth title was thrown in the mix as well and with another split decision, this time in McDonnell’s favour, he bagged two belts for the price of one fight. His star was rising.

Jerome Arnoud, 25-6-1, 15 KO’s, of France followed in 2010 with McDonnell stopping him in the 10th, against the odds and being crowned champion of Europe.

He defended that belt twice, his Commonwealth belt once and was now more than ready for world honors. Before that, though, McDonnell was to give the fans what they wanted and a British title fight against domestic rival, Stuart Hall, 21-6-2, 7 KO’s, who had claimed the belt vacated by McDonnell.

Between Hall, Butler, Burnett and Haskins it shows that the smaller guys have just as fierce rivalries as the bigger guys and those at the lower end of the kitchen scales like a battle.

Hall was hankering after the showdown and when he got it on the 3rd September 2011, he was to lose his crown. It was a very simple unanimous decision.

Though ready for the world stage it took until 2014 for his chance to come. Patiently he had waited and then ensured there were no mistakes as he beat Tamadang Da Rachawat, 52-3, 34 KO’s, by stopping him in the 10th round. It was on the Froch-Groves II undercard in Wembley and in front of 80,000 people; McDonnell had arrived.

There have been no fewer than 6 defenses since then and with each one, there have been questions and niggles. Perhaps each criticism is fueled by McDonnell’s inability to get people out the ring – his stoppage ratio is under 50% – but many smaller guys are much better boxers. McDonnell is clearly a world level and elite fighter. His margins of victory belie the hours of effort as he works at a weight category with minimum margins for error.

It remains to be seen if he moves up in weight or can be tempted by a British world title unification fight with any of the other British contenders and champions. Often overlooked, the lower weight divisions in the UK are as exciting and devastating as many other weight divisions so I am hopeful we can see some of that brilliant boxing back with some very decent contests to flow.

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Select Packy “Boom Boom” Goldstein Donald "Braveheart" Stewart Randy "The Commish" Gordon Seth Bramson Geoffrey Huchel Dr. Diane Batshaw-Eisman Henry S. Villard William Kozy Ron Signore Nikki Slusher Jo-Ann “Jo D NL” Duke Maya Carter Janet Grace Radical Rhymes Stacy Koruba Bethany"BST2"Armstrong Mark Koruba

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