Jamie McDonnell (WBA 'Regular') vs. Naoya Inoue - May 25th 2018

[tigermoth87]

McDonnell is gonna shock alot of people and win this.

He has a knack of raising his game in the big fights (Ceja, Kameda) but getting complacent in lesser fights (Solis, and I remember him not doing great against Medina).

He'll beat Inoue in a close fight.

[handsofstone]

This is a pretty intriguing fight, be interesting to see how Inoue looks up at Bantamweight against a huge Bantam, not seen much of McDonnell lately, the TD last time out in the rematch with Solis was a nothing fight, last time I seen Inoue was when he fought Nieves on Sky and he looked excellent that night


McDonnell is a bit like Jack, old school fighter willing to travel to face the best, constantly proving people wrong and is a lot better than he gets credit for, he doesn't hit hard but he's strong and relentless down the stretch, Inoue is gonna be giving away some of the advantages he's had down at the lower weights like size and strength, he'll still be quicker and might punch harder at the weight so its a tough one to choose

This could one fight too many at Bantamweight for McDonnell though, its no secret he's struggled for a while at the weight, TBH as gritty as McDonnell is, I can see Inoue impressing in this one and maybe even forcing a late stoppage, Inoue is no slouch and can be relentless himself, I doubt he'll mind a war of attrition down the stretch

[PredatorHayds]

I can’t see past Inoue via KO.

McDonnell struggles at the weight and he’s against the best body puncher in world boxing. Not a good combination.

[jameswilson]

Have any Brits won or defended a World title on Japanese soil?

[Rockytony67]

Wayne McCullough

[Datsue]

Wayne McCullough

Hell of a fight, too (vs Yakushiji, IIRC).

[Taansend]

Does anyone think he's leaving it a bit late in regards to jet lag?

All day travelling plus 8 hour time difference & arriving only 4 days before weighing in?

I know it takes me 2 or 3 days to acclimatise that far & I'm just lying on a beach drinking beer, not preparing for the biggest fight of my life.

[Andrew]

Does anyone think he's leaving it a bit late in regards to jet lag?

All day travelling plus 8 hour time difference & arriving only 4 days before weighing in?

I know it takes me 2 or 3 days to acclimatise that far & I'm just lying on a beach drinking beer, not preparing for the biggest fight of my life.

They had a training camp in Dubai and flew from there.

They should have got there earlier IMO

[Taansend]

Does anyone think he's leaving it a bit late in regards to jet lag?

All day travelling plus 8 hour time difference & arriving only 4 days before weighing in?

I know it takes me 2 or 3 days to acclimatise that far & I'm just lying on a beach drinking beer, not preparing for the biggest fight of my life.

They had a training camp in Dubai and flew from there.

They should have got there earlier IMO

Cheers Mate.

5 hour time difference not as bad as 8 but it still affects you. For a fight this big I'd want my fighter to have ten days out there.

It's not like Japan is a dirty tricks country.

[mfc_se15]

Does anyone think he's leaving it a bit late in regards to jet lag?

All day travelling plus 8 hour time difference & arriving only 4 days before weighing in?

I know it takes me 2 or 3 days to acclimatise that far & I'm just lying on a beach drinking beer, not preparing for the biggest fight of my life.

They had a training camp in Dubai and flew from there.

They should have got there earlier IMO

Cheers Mate.

5 hour time difference not as bad as 8 but it still affects you. For a fight this big I'd want my fighter to have ten days out there.

It's not like Japan is a dirty tricks country.

Thought I was going mad but found the link where Coldwell talks about it. Says they were gonna spend 3 weeks in Japan but in the end decided with the culture/food/gyms etc that was too long. Also says something about being an away fighter so not wanting cameras in the gym etc.

Agree personally seems late to leave it think I would want to be there earlier than they've left it.

https://youtu.be/eTZgls7K8fc

About 3mins in

[TheLeprechaun]

This is McDonnells last fight at the weight and he's getting there a bit late and going in with a banger. I can see him intentionally coming in at about 120 here to give himself a good advantage.

[chatty]

I think Inoue will win on points but it'll be a rough ride for him. He's maybes caught McDonnell at the perfect time though, he didn't look very good in either Solis fight, lost the first one imo and the second didn't really go long enough to see what would have happened (before the cut). Plus that three round ND is his only fight in eighteen months which is unlike McDonnell who has always been an active fighter.

Then you have to take Inoue moving up, he's a big guy at SFW so I don't think this looks make a huge difference but McDonnellnisna bit of a freak at 5'10, that's quite a height advantage compared to anyone Inoue has fought (and his last opponent was a bit of a freak at 5'7'' too).

McDonnell has a good engine, has mixed it with a lot of good boxers and will come to win so it should be an interesting fight, my main worry is McDonnell has dropped a level and we find that out on Thur. Inoue can bang but he's never fought in the elite level as yet (not saying McDonnell is either) and McDonnell has a very solid chin so I going for the distance in this one where McDonnell wins about four rounds but is ultimately just that level below Inoue who takes a clear one after a hard fight.

[chatty]

Does anyone think he's leaving it a bit late in regards to jet lag?

All day travelling plus 8 hour time difference & arriving only 4 days before weighing in?

I know it takes me 2 or 3 days to acclimatise that far & I'm just lying on a beach drinking beer, not preparing for the biggest fight of my life.

They had a training camp in Dubai and flew from there.

They should have got there earlier IMO

Cheers Mate.

5 hour time difference not as bad as 8 but it still affects you. For a fight this big I'd want my fighter to have ten days out there.

It's not like Japan is a dirty tricks country.

I thought Japan was a notorious dirty tricks country, it used to have that rep anyway, may well have changed, I tend not to get too embroiled in the build ups these days as the WWE style craic often makes me cringe.

[Taansend]

They had a training camp in Dubai and flew from there.

They should have got there earlier IMO

Cheers Mate.

5 hour time difference not as bad as 8 but it still affects you. For a fight this big I'd want my fighter to have ten days out there.

It's not like Japan is a dirty tricks country.

I thought Japan was a notorious dirty tricks country, it used to have that rep anyway, may well have changed, I tend not to get too embroiled in the build ups these days as the WWE style craic often makes me cringe.

I haven't heard anything Chatty. Do you have any examples?

I was thinking like shite hotels or phone calls at 3am etc

[Boxing Prospect]

This is McDonnells last fight at the weight and he's getting there a bit late and going in with a banger. I can see him intentionally coming in at about 120 here to give himself a good advantage.

Interestingly he refused to do a test weigh in today today at the medical , Inoue's camp seem to be pretty confident he's not going to be able to make weight. After his work out yesterday he drank a lot of water and fighters have been failing to make weight a lot in Japan this year (Nery and Higa at world level and a number of domestic fighters, Rimar Metuda almost missed it for his bout against Arakawa this past weekend).

[jamamb]

in terms of scoring japan is the fairest away country for visitors from what ive seen. there are a lot of competitive world title fights there but the list of consensus poor decisions is quite small

a south african just won wba and ibf titles there in a very close fight that with even a little bit of hometown scoring couldve gone to the japanese fighter. not to say its perfect in japan, but compared to what i see elsewhere its the best

and that reminds me that koki kameda and wonjogkam just had an exhibition rematch of there fight that wongjon won by md a few years back, and that first fight too i felt was super close and couldve easily gone to kameda with the slightest bit of home scoring

[Counter-puncher]

in terms of scoring japan is the fairest away country for visitors from what ive seen. there are a lot of competitive world title fights there but the list of consensus poor decisions is quite small

a south african just won wba and ibf titles there in a very close fight that with even a little bit of hometown scoring couldve gone to the japanese fighter. not to say its perfect in japan, but compared to what i see elsewhere its the best

and that reminds me that koki kameda and wonjogkam just had an exhibition rematch of there fight that wongjon won by md a few years back, and that first fight too i felt was super close and couldve easily gone to kameda with the slightest bit of home scoring

[Taansend]

in terms of scoring japan is the fairest away country for visitors from what ive seen. there are a lot of competitive world title fights there but the list of consensus poor decisions is quite small

a south african just won wba and ibf titles there in a very close fight that with even a little bit of hometown scoring couldve gone to the japanese fighter. not to say its perfect in japan, but compared to what i see elsewhere its the best

and that reminds me that koki kameda and wonjogkam just had an exhibition rematch of there fight that wongjon won by md a few years back, and that first fight too i felt was super close and couldve easily gone to kameda with the slightest bit of home scoring

I also didn't think they indulged in pre fight games either.

Otherwise they'd have to commit hari-kari.

[KiwiRider]

Come on Jamie!
You got the height, you got the reach, now jab jab and jab again!
Jab his face off and finish him late.

[Datsue]

in terms of scoring japan is the fairest away country for visitors from what ive seen. there are a lot of competitive world title fights there but the list of consensus poor decisions is quite small

a south african just won wba and ibf titles there in a very close fight that with even a little bit of hometown scoring couldve gone to the japanese fighter. not to say its perfect in japan, but compared to what i see elsewhere its the best

and that reminds me that koki kameda and wonjogkam just had an exhibition rematch of there fight that wongjon won by md a few years back, and that first fight too i felt was super close and couldve easily gone to kameda with the slightest bit of home scoring

I was gonna say, Japan's got a rep for fair judging/officiating IIRC.

[Oiky]

What ever happens, fair play to McDonnell

More fighters need to be like him

Doesn't give a f*ck

[TheLeprechaun]

What ever happens, fair play to McDonnell

More fighters need to be like him

Doesn't give a f*ck

He didn't seem to know who Inoue was when he accepted the fight. Does he even follow boxing? I genuinely don't think he understood he was going into the ring with a serious fighter here.

[Ruthless-RKO]

What ever happens, fair play to McDonnell

More fighters need to be like him

Doesn't give a f*ck

He didn't seem to know who Inoue was when he accepted the fight. Does he even follow boxing? I genuinely don't think he understood he was going into the ring with a serious fighter here.

You're right. He probably heard some Jap was moving up and looking for a belt, so he put his name forward thinking, "Here, take mine. I've had it too long around my waist."

[Oiky]

What ever happens, fair play to McDonnell

More fighters need to be like him

Doesn't give a f*ck

He didn't seem to know who Inoue was when he accepted the fight. Does he even follow boxing? I genuinely don't think he understood he was going into the ring with a serious fighter here.

Yeah mate McDonnell doesn't follow the sport

[dhb-raging bull]

Jamie is not a big fan of the sport and probably only watches it when he's at the at the matchroom cards but he's been in boxing a long time so understands the sport although he may have never watched this kid fight before his team around will have so he will know what to expect jamie literally will fight anybody if the money is right and is confident of beating them which is a good thing and it's hardly hurt upto yet he's always stood himself in good ground at world level I agree he wasn't the best against solis but then again he as turned up big fights also I think Jamie will make a fight of this but he's just coming up against in my eyes one of the special athletes of the sport and will just come up short really hope Jamie does it though it will be a great win abroad and could be up there with the best away win