Doncaster Rovers

McDonnell will fight Mexican knockout king Julio Ceja for the vacant IBF Bantamweight crown at the Keepmoat Stadium, in his hometown of Doncaster, on Saturday 11th May.

Rovers official website spoke to Jamie ahead of his press conference at the stadium where the location and date of the fight was officially announced.

Although he is confident in his own ability, Jamie is under no illusions of an easy fight against the young Mexican.

“I’m expecting a tough challenge,” he said

“The kid’s undefeated, he’s twenty years old and has won 24; 22 of them by knockout.

"He is only young so he’s going to come here wanting to win the world title and make a name for himself. 

"He’s going to come here and give 200% so it’s up to me to go out there and give even more than him.”

The Hatfield born boxer has spent many years building up to this world title fight and believes its now the time to show the whole world how good a fighter he is.

“This is the fight that I’ve have dreamt about, Dennis [Hobson] has got the fight here in my home town, so its now up to me to do what I need to do to make my dream come true and become World Champion and do it for Doncaster.

"I do believe that I’m a better fighter than him and that I will be victorious on the night.” 

Ceja is described by many as a ‘knockout king’ and his record certainly backs that bold tag, but McDonnell is full of confidence and is looking to prove that he is the better boxer of the two.

“I’m a skilful, thinking fighter. I’ve got a lot of heart and I like to get stuck in which you can see from my previous fights.

"It’s going to be tough, you just have to look at his record; that speaks for itself. He’s been unbeaten in 24 fights and has 22 knockouts within that but I do believe that I am the better fighter and I will prove that on the night by beating him.

"There’s been a lot of hard work put in ahead of this fight, I haven’t took the easy route to get here, and I’ve fought against the best; winning the British title and Commonwealth title and defended them successfully numerous times.

"We’ve been studying the opposition closely and my team have come up with a plan; we’ve been working our training around that plan.

"We train three times a day and put everything we have into it and hopefully on fight night we will reap the rewards and I will get that belt around my waist.

"I am a confident person; nothing phases me I just get on with the task in hand. When you’ve put in the hard work you won’t have any doubts in your mind when you walk into the ring. I have put in the hard work and when I walk into the ring I know that I have done everything I can.”

The fight is billed as the biggest sporting event, in history, to be held in Doncaster and McDonnell revealed that it makes the fight even more special for him. 

“It’s the best venue you could hope for. There’s no better place to win your first World title so it fantastic that it will be held at the Keepmoat. 

"Its history in the making, I will be the first ever World Champion from Doncaster and to do it in my hometown will make it even more special. 

"This is not just for me; it’s for my family, all my coach’s and everyone who has believed in me and has supported me.”

Ticket information will be released soon, keep logging on to the Official Website for details