WBA ‘world’ bantamweight champion Jamie McDonnell plans to win a world title at super-bantamweight by the end of next year.
The Doncaster man bested Tomoki Kameda again in their rematch in Texas on Sunday [September 6] to retain his title, confirming his status as one of the hottest names at 118lbs.
Fresh off of the win, McDonnell revealed he plans to fight once more at his current weight before moving to super-bantam, where the likes of Scott Quigg and Carl Frampton hold versions of world titles.
“You’ve got to keep the ball rolling so we need to line that next fight up,” he said.
“I’m feeling good, fit and strong and I don’t want two, three or four months out of the ring. I’ll have a few weeks off, have a break, then get straight back in it. Hopefully we’ll get a big name at bantamweight before we move up.
“I’d like to get one more fight in before Christmas, then move up next year and win a world title at super-bantamweight before the end of next year.
“I’ll probably have three or four big fights then knock it on the head, so maybe a couple more years.”
With Juan Carlos Payano holding the ‘Super’ version of the WBA world bauble, and also advised by Al Haymon, who manages Kameda, the Dominican could be Jamie’s final fight at bantamweight, with an official announcement on his next outing expected in a couple of weeks’ time.
Prior to the Kameda rematch, McDonnell’s trainer, Dave Coldwell, told us his man wants a fight with ‘world’ super-bantam champion and countryman Scott Quigg, who is also promoted by Matchroom Boxing.
Reflecting on his emphatic win over Kameda, the 29-year-old is pleased with his performance.
“I trained hard, absolutely smashed the training, when I got in there I wanted to send a statement,” he noted.
“I wanted to stop Kameda, I felt I could have done, but everything in the fight felt so comfortable, I felt like I was winning the fight so easily that I didn’t need to change anything.
“When the final bell came I knew I’d smashed it but I remember thinking, ‘I hope they don’t give it to him [Kameda].’”
“So when they said ‘And still’ it was the best feeling, it was amazing.”
