Video: McDonnell beats Wale in Doncaster to set up Kid Galahad clash

[boxrec]

Doncaster’s Gavin McDonnell stepped out of his twin brother Jamie’s shadows with a unanimous points victory over Barnsley’s Josh Wale at the Doncaster Dome last night in their British super-bantamweight title final eliminator.

27 year-old Gavin, who had his twin brother (IBF bantamweight champion) Jamie in his corner, looked massive at the weight and did well to keep Josh fully at bay for the whole contest.

Both fighters gave everything in all of the twelve rounds, but the judges seemed to prefer the back-foot work of Gavin, whose three inch height and reach advantage over Josh proved to be the keys to his success. Gavin mixed his attacks up well on the back foot and Josh just kept stalking him on the front foot, looking to land his trademark body shots and hooks.

 

Both fighters seemed to land clean head shots in every round, but neither flinched or took a backward step much to the delight of the paying public. Referee Phil Edwards had an easy night’s work, because the fighters kept it clean and tidy for the whole affair.

The pair and their respective corners showed great sportsmanship after the final bell, as they waited for the judges’ scorecards to be announced. Both sets of fans nervously held their breaths because they knew that every round had been competitive, and the destinies of both fighters were now in the hands of the three scoring judges.

My thought before the scorecard announcement was 'rematch' because it was a great clash of styles and a fantastic all-action fight.

After a nervy wait, master of ceremonies Phil Seymour then announced a unanimous decision (Michael Alexander 118-111, John Keane 119-111, John Latham 117-113) in favour of Gavin. The scorecards suggest that Gavin won at a canter, but anybody present will tell you that this was clearly not the case.

Josh more than held his own in every round and that he did enough to win his fair share of them, but the three people that mattered saw it differently. Although Gavin was given most rounds by the judges, most of the rounds should have been razor-thin.

 

Unbeaten Gavin should now get a shot at British champion Kid Galahad, who showed chinks in his armour in defeating Jazza Dickens earlier this month. Gavin will fancy his chances of causing an upset.

Josh can take lots of positives away from this contest despite the defeat. McDonnell was just on the top of his game and it just wasn't Josh's night. He can look to regroup and possibly look at stepping back down to bantamweight where he will no doubt be a big force again at domestic level.

Video courtesy of Andy Wake

 

 

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