Jim McDonnell (born 12 September 1960) is a British former

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

who won the European

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

title and twice fought for World titles at

super featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although first founded by the New ...

Career

Amateur

He represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the lightweight division, at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. He won the 1982 Amateur Boxing Association British lightweight title, when boxing out of the St. Pancras ABC.

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 The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. History The British Boxing Board of Control was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff. ...

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. 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.McDonnell in the Pink
, ''

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'', 3 November 1989. Retrieved 11 October 2015 McDonnell returned in March 1989 with a points win over Benjie Marquez, and in May of that year faced

Barry McGuigan Finbar Patrick "Barry" McGuigan MBE (born 28 February 1961) is an Irish boxing promoter and former professional boxer. Born in Clones, County Monaghan, McGuigan was nicknamed ''The Clones Cyclone'' and held the WBA and lineal featherweight ...

at the

G-Mex Centre Manchester Central Convention Complex (commonly known as Manchester Central and formerly GMEX (Greater Manchester Exhibition Centre)) is an exhibition and conference centre converted from the former Manchester Central railway station in Manch ...

, 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.Mee, Bob (2004)
McDonnell Lands Dream Ticket
, ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'', 10 December 2004. Retrieved 11 October 2015 In November 1989 McDonnell got a second shot at a World title when he challenged for

Azumah Nelson Azumah Nelson (born 19 July 1958, affectionately known as the Professor) is a Ghanaian former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2008. He was a two-weight world champion, having held the WBC featherweight title from 1984 to 1987 and ...

's WBC super featherweight title at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

. Nelson had McDonnell down four times and stopped him in the twelfth and final round. He returned in September 1990 when he was stopped by future WBF World champion Kenny Vice in the fourth round. 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, and became a trainer, most notably working with Danny Williams and

James DeGale James Frederick DeGale (born 3 February 1986) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2019. He held the IBF super-middleweight title twice between 2015 and 2018, and regionally the European and British super-middlewe ...

.Fissler, Neil (2014)
James DeGale's world title pledge to trainer who missed out
, ''

Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

'', 18 May 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2015 He also ran the

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

several times, his best time 2 hours 49 minutes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonnell, Jim 1960 births Living people Featherweight boxers Super-featherweight boxers Boxers from London English male boxers Boxers at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists in boxing