Jamie McDonnell beats Rodrigo Bracco
Jamie McDonnell retained his European Bantamweight belt with a comprehensive victory over Italian challenger Rodrigo Bracco in his home town of Doncaster on Friday night.
It was an easy night’s work for McDonnell, who dispatched and out-classed the contender in under three rounds, much to the delight of an enthusiastic home crowd.
From the first bell McDonnell was jabbing well and kept Bracco at arm’s length for the duration of the first two rounds. “Macca” was storming through the Italians defence with his stern jab and all Bracco could do was get frustrated as the Doncaster man followed up his straights with powerful hooks to the head and body.
McDonnell’s superior reach saw him comfortably keep the diminutive Bracco at bay for the first two rounds and in the third the local boy upped his work rate. The end came when he threw out a huge right that had Bracco reeling as the Italian’s legs turned to spaghetti. McDonnell saw his opportunity as he dived in and began rocketing out punches against the defenceless challenger, before the referee stepped in to intervene and award the fight to McDonnell by way of TKO.
Right now McDonnell is on a superb run of form. He is jabbing very well but has also showed he can fight a tactical fight. Bracco likes to wade in and start throwing combinations; McDonnell didn’t give him the opportunity to assert himself, found his weakness and fought his own fight with devastating effects.
He now needs to look at taking the calibre of fighters up another notch so he can draw closer to a world-title fight. Some international opposition like veteran Gerry Penalosa or Mexican Jorge Arce could be a good way to announce himself on the global scene while providing a strong challenge and an education for Macca.
Still McDonnell is only 24 and with a record of 15-2-1 it might be worth him hanging about at this level a little longer, perhaps take on undefeated Russian prospect Alexander Bakhtin so he can confirm himself as the best in Europe before he sets off to conquer the world.
Either way it must be great to be Jamie McDonnell right now.
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