British Scene: O'Donnell Ends Glover's Upset Streak

Matt Chudley recaps Saturday's welterweight match-up between John O'Donnell and Tom Glover.

Photos © Justin McKie

Thoroughly out of his depth, Tom Glover was halted in the 6th round after taking heavy punishment from John O'Donnell and offering little in return this past Saturday at the Watford Coliseum.

Although scheduled as O'Donnell’s first defence of the Commonwealth title he claimed from Craig Watson, the belt was not at stake as the Commonwealth Boxing Council failed to rubber stamp the contest. Without the necessary formalities completed the fights still went ahead as a 12 rounder although a 1lb concession was made on the welterweight limit.

Giving up 5 inches in height and conceding significant speed and reach advantages it was clear that Glover was really up against it this time, but in his customary style, the plucky brick layer from Essex gamely tried to work his way inside. The man from West London was too sharp however, and took full advantage of his size and speed advantage, consistently employing the jab that had gone missing last time out against Craig Watson.

After a relatively patient first round O'Donnell began to find his range in the second, catching Glover with flashy combos and showing off his impressive hand-speed. Glover did have his moments in the opening rounds, connecting with a few right hands but with no stoppages to his credit and very limited power he failed to really gain O'Donnell’s respect.

It soon became an impossible task for Glover after his nose was broken during the second round. A sharp left uppercut from the Irish born southpaw that split the gloves seemed to do the damage. Reliant upon his stamina and gritty determination, Glover was no longer able to breathe through his nose and plodded forward with his mouth hanging open.

The blood began to flow steadily in the 3rd after O'Donnell targeted the broken nose with a onslaught of straight lefts and also began to set his feet more and put more into his punches.

O'Donnell seemed to take a breather in the 4th, possibly in an attempt to ensure he didn't punch himself out given Glover's durability and record of never having been stopped. Now masked in blood, the body shots and right hooks where still there for Glover but the more hurtful attacks where still coming from the Londoner.

The 5th and 6th rounds saw the fight continue to follow a predictable path, with Glover at the mercy of O'Donnell's speedy offense and not seeming able to worry O'Donnell in return. With Glover becoming more disorganised and his hands gradually coming down, Richie Davies took a strong interest in the 6th round, and compasionately called it off after a barrage of unanswered punches left Glover reeling on the ropes.

With the win, his 10th inside the distance, O’Donnell moves to 22-1 and will next face mandatory challenger Philip Kotey from Ghana, likely in December. Having sustained the broken nose, Glover's English title challenger planned for next month seems unlikely and he also expressed a desire to move down to light-welterweight.

On the under-card…

The main support saw Lee Purdy get revenge over Peter McDonagh following a decision loss back at the end of last year. While a reasonably entertaining fight it didn't quite reach the same heights as their previous encounter and a better versed Purdy proved too strong at welterweight, winning by a score of 98-94 on referee Jeff Hinds' card. McDonagh plans to head back down to his natural confines of 135-140.

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The Boxing Bulletin Pick'em Game - Week 1

The Boxing Bulletin's Pick'em game has arrived.

Our game is a little different than most of the variations we've seen online, as it's a combination of picking the winners straight-up and beating the odds. If you're ready to match your prognostication skills against other boxing fans, then let's get started...

How to play:

The game is strictly for fun, and entry is free. The deadline to enter this week is Thursday night at 11 PM EST. We'll post the pick breakdown on Friday, and have the results tabulated and online by Sunday night.

Pick The Winners

This part's easy - 2 points for each correct answer.

Beat The Odds

This is where it gets a little more involved. You will have the option of choosing 1 fight to risk double points, and 1 fight to risk triple points. Points gained (and lost) will be multiplied by two and three times respectively for these fights.

You do not need to risk points on every fight. If you wish to skip a fight, just check "pass" for both fighters.

Standings

We will keep standings for the full year, although each game will only last for 1 month. At the end of the month standings will be reset and a new game will begin.

We've got a few details below on the fights in play this week, but if you're ready to get started, here's the Week 1 game sheet.

This Week's Line-up - clicking on the fighter's name will open up their boxrec page September 4 John Simpson vs Paul Truscott - Commonwealth featherweight title - Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, United Kingdom (Television: Sky, UK) These two featherweights fought back in January, with Simpson coming away with an 8th round "stoppage" win. It went in the books as a TKO, but it was an accidental clash of heads that lead to the bout being called (the correct ruling under British rules). Simpson was coming on strong at the time, and enters Friday's rematch as the favorite. Jose Lopez vs Marvin Sonsona - WBO super-flyweight title - Rama, Ontario, Canada (Television, TSN, Canada) This will be a huge jump in class for the 19 year old Sonsona who's fought a grand total of 38 professional rounds. Is he ready for it? Here's the Filipino phenom's one punch knock-out win over Wandee Singwnacha this past May. The 37 year old Lopez is 15-0-1 since dropping a 12 round decision to Fernando Montiel back in 2001. September 5 John O'Donnell (21-1-0) vs Tom Glover (9-5-3) - 12 rounds - Commonwealth welterweight title & Lee Purdy (11-1) vs Peter McDonagh (14-14) - 10 rounds - Watford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom (Television: ITV4, UK) O'Donnell enters the main event as a big favorite, but Glover has put together an unlikely string of upsets, including a win over former European lightweight champion Jon Thaxton last time out. Purdy's only defeat as a pro... a 10 round points loss to McDonagh last December. Luis Concepcion vs Omar Solado (12 rounds) - interim WBA flyweight title - Panama City, Panama Solado was stopped last year in a WBC eliminator by Julio Cesar Miranda. After a couple of wins, he's getting another crack at a strap but will have to travel to Concepcion's hometown for the opportunity. Concepcion's lone defeat game in his 4th pro fight and since then has rolled off 18 straight victories. Here's the video from his latest fight (it's a short one): click For a short previews of Simpson vs Truscott and O'Donnell vs Glover, check out Part 1 of our UK Season preview by Dave Oakes.

If you're ready to play, click here for the week 1 game sheet.
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Photo Gallery: John O'Donnell vs Craig Watson; Lenny Daws vs Pete McDonagh

There were two titles at stake on Saturday April 11, at the York Hall in Bethnal Green.

In the main-event, Craig Watson put his Commonwealth welterweight crown on the line against challenger John O'Donnell in a battle of southpaws, while Lenny Daws and Pete McDonagh contested the vacant English light-welterweight title on the undercard.

Photographer Justin McKie was ringside to capture all the action from both exciting bouts.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

Craig Watson vs John O'Donnell The challenger, John O'Donnell makes his way to the ring. O'Donnell, fighting with plenty of hometown support enters the contest on a 5 fight winning streak and an overall record of 20 wins against only 1 defeat. The Commonwealth welterweight champion Craig Watson, enters the ring ready to make the second defense of the title he won from Ali Nuumbembe in December of 2007. The crafty Manchester fighter comes in with a record of 12 wins and only 2 defeats. The champion started well, and had the edge in the early rounds. O'Donnell came on strong during the mid-rounds. Here he catches Watson with a right hook. One of the many good exchanges during the grueling bout. O'Donnell fires a hook to the midsection, as Watson follows through with a left. Desperate to hang onto his crown, the tired champion digs deep and finds a home for his left hand. With the battle winding down, it's anyone's fight. The last few rounds were very tightly contested. Needing to win the final frame, and spurred on by the hometown crowd, the challenger lands a sharp uppercut. Referee Victor Loughlin raises the hand of the winner, as an elated Mick Hennessy looks on. The disappointment on the Watson side is clear. The scores were extremely close. Judge John Keane had Watson in front 116-113, while Judges James Davies and Dave Parris both had it 115-114 for O'Donnell. The new champion shows off his belt, before celebrating with his fans.

Lenny Daws vs Pete McDonagh Pete McDonagh gets warmed up on the pads. The Bermondsey fighter has been on a good run lately, with 6 wins in his last 8 fights. In his most recent bout, he earned a decision over the previously unbeaten Lee Purdy. Lightening Lenny Daws, a regular at York Hall comes into the bout with only 1 defeat in 20 professional contests. The Morden fighter, who once held the British 140 pound crown, drew with Nigel Wright in his previous attempt to win the English title. McDonagh started the bout very well and took the first couple of rounds. Here he catches Daws with a hard right hand. The action was intense, as both fighters were more than willing to come forward and mix it up. After getting off to a slow start, Daws found his footing and turned up the intensity. Here he pounds home a right hand between McDonagh's guard. As the bout wore on, Daws proved a little bit too strong for McDonagh, but the action was competitive all the way through. It's over. After 10 tough action packed rounds, Daws has his hand raised by referee John Keane. Keane's score was 97-94. The new champion proudly shows off the hard earned prize.

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British Scene Weekend Recap

Matt Chudley recaps all the action from the Hennessy Sports show this past Saturday night at York Hall in Bethnal Green.

The main event featured Craig Watson defending his Commonwealth belt against John O'Donnell. Also on the card was promising young heavyweight Tyson Fury, along with an exciting 10 round clash for the British light-welterweight crown between Lenny Daws and Pete McDonagh.

Photos © Justin McKie

Saturday April 11 O'Donnell edges Watson By Matt Chudley John O'Donnell dethroned Craig Watson via a controversial split decision on Saturday at the historic York Hall to take the Commonwealth welterweight title. While the contest may have been lacking in clean punches, both fighters gave everything they had in a hard fought grueling battle. Watson, who had been out of action for almost a year due to promotional disputes, started the stronger of the two southpaws. He looked purposeful and aggressive in the opening round and managed to successfully work his way inside on his taller opponent. O’Donnell appeared more composed in an even second round, but Watson did the better work over the next two frames. Using a lunging lead right hand and an uppercut in the clinch, Watson managed to combat O’Donnell’s awkward style; the Londoner forgoes the conventional jab, fighting with his right hand low and using the shoulder roll to slip incoming fire. The fight took a turn towards the end of the 5th when O'Donnell managed to back his man onto the ropes and fire away aggressively. O’Donnell continued to be more positive in his approach looking to push and turn Watson onto the ropes where he would try and load up with left and right hooks. In the 7th round, one such flurry visibly shook Watson, sending him sagging backwards onto the ropes, although the man from Manchester managed to remain on his feet. Having mocked the challengers power in the pre-fight buildup, Watson now seemed to have gained respect for it and adapted his approach by switching to counter-puncher. O'Donnell meanwhile seemed to take the next couple of rounds make his own subsequent adjustments. With both fighters exhausted from the spirited contest, there was little to choose between the two battling southpaws in the three final rounds, although the best punch of the late going was a straight left from Watson in the 12th. The scores were extremely tight with Judges Dave Parris and Richie Davis both seeing it 115-114 O'Donnell to John Keane's 116-113 for Watson. I had Watson in front at the end, as did many others, including colour commentator Duke McKenzie, Barry McGuigan and both Boxing News and Seconds Out by margins ranging from one to three rounds. Cynical observers may have noted that Watson was between promoters and in his opponent’s back yard, but given the closely contested nature of many of the rounds, the verdict was going to be debated no matter who came out on the winning end. Following the victory promoter Mick Hennessey vowed to seek a European title shot for his charge. A more probable next fight for the Londoner would be a first defense against 18-1 Northern Irish fighter Stephen Haughian who stopped the overmatched Drew Campbell (he came in with 1 victory in 9 outings) in a round on the undercard. Though wanting an immediate rematch, no matter who he faces, Watson will be eager for work under his new employer, Hayemaker promotions. On the undercard… Fast rising heavyweight prospect Tyson Fury disposed of the undersized Matthew Ellis in less than 50 seconds. Giving up 7 inches in height and over 50lbs in weight Ellis knew that he would have to try and get inside to test the unproven chin of the younger fighter. Having closed the distance Ellis quickly found himself under heavy fire, with Fury’s first right hand buckling his legs and the follow-up flurry sending him to the canvas. After getting up at the count of 8, Ellis was quickly put down again, where he wisely chose to remain for the full count. There was also an entertaing 10 rounder to open the telecast. After a lively opening round from Pete McDonagh, Lenny Daws's superior strength and stamina proved too much for the game Bermondsey fighter in their clash for the vacant English light-welterweight title. e-mail Matt Chudley

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