Jim McDonnell (boxer)
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | James Martin McDonnell 12 September 1960 London, England | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | Featherweight, super featherweight | ||||||||||||||
| Boxing career | |||||||||||||||
| Boxing record | |||||||||||||||
| Total fights | 30 | ||||||||||||||
| Wins | 26 | ||||||||||||||
| Win by KO | 12 | ||||||||||||||
| Losses | 4 | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Jim McDonnell (born 12 September 1960) is a British former boxer who won the European featherweight title and twice fought for World titles at super featherweight.
Career
Amateur
He represented England and won a silver medal in the lightweight division, at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.[1][2] He won the 1982 Amateur Boxing Association British lightweight title, when boxing out of the St. Pancras ABC.[3]
Professional
Born in London and a caretaker working for Camden Council outside of boxing, McDonnell made his professional debut in March 1983 with a points win over Phil Duke. In March 1985 he beat Clyde Ruan to take the BBBofC Southern Area featherweight title, a fight that was also a British title eliminator.
The British title fight didn't materialise but in November 1985 he faced Jose Luis Vicho for the vacant European featherweight title; McDonnell stopped the Spaniard in the fourth round to become European champion. He successfully defended the European title in July 1986 against Salvatore Bottiglieri, taking a points decision.[4]
By 1988 he had moved up to super featherweight and still with a 100% record from 24 fights fought South African Brian Mitchell for the latter's WBA super featherweight title in November. The fight went the full twelve rounds but Mitchell won via a comfortable unanimous decision, the first defeat of McDonnell's career.[5]
McDonnell returned in March 1989 with a points win over Benjie Marquez, and in May of that year faced Barry McGuigan at the G-Mex Centre, Manchester. Although the underdog, McDonnell dominated the fight and won after it was stopped in the fourth round due to a cut over McGuigan's right eye. The defeat effectively ended McGuigan's career.[6]
In November 1989 McDonnell got a second shot at a World title when he challenged for Azumah Nelson's WBC super featherweight title at the Royal Albert Hall. In a very competitive fight, McDonnell was stopped in the twelfth and final round after his right eye was swollen shut in the previous round.[7]
He returned in September 1990 when he was stopped by future WBF World champion Kenny Vice in the fourth round.[6] After more than seven years out of the ring, and at the age of 38, he returned in February 1998 against Peter Feher, losing a six-round points decision.
Personal life
After retiring from boxing he worked as a painter and decorator, ran a gym in Camden,[8] and became a trainer, most notably working with Danny Williams and James DeGale.[6][9][10] He also ran the London Marathon several times, his best time 2 hours 49 minutes.[6]
References
- ^ "1982 Athletes". Team England.
- ^ "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
- ^ "Roll of Honour". England Boxing. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- ^ "In other bouts, European featherweight boxing champion Jim McDonnell...", UPI, 19 July 1986. Retrieved 11 October 2015
- ^ "McDonnell in the Pink", Glasgow Herald, 3 November 1989. Retrieved 11 October 2015
- ^ a b c d Mee, Bob (2004) "McDonnell Lands Dream Ticket", Daily Telegraph, 10 December 2004. Retrieved 11 October 2015
- ^ Morrison, Ashley (2014) The Professor: The Life Story of Azumah Nelson, Strategic Book Publishing, ISBN 978-1628571059, pp. 127-133
- ^ Moss, Stephen (2014) "White-collar boxing is too dangerous to be left unlicensed", The Guardian, 27 June 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2015
- ^ "James DeGale's trainer Jim McDonnell says he wanted his fighter to take on Carl Froch", Sky Sports, 5 February 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015
- ^ Fissler, Neil (2014) "James DeGale's world title pledge to trainer who missed out", Sunday Express, 18 May 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2015
External links
- Boxing record for Jim McDonnell from BoxRec (registration required)