Hall vs. Mcdonnell

Not seen any talk of this since Saturday.

It was a very good fight. At the half way point I had the fight level, but Jamie put on a good showing in the second half of the fight to take a close, but clear decision. Hall looked good when coming forward but visably tired in the second part, partly due to body shots and partly due to the fast pace he set. I dont think Mcdonnell will be a world champ, but it will be fun watching him try no doubt.

Agreed Jack enjoyed the fight. Mcdonell is genuinely good value, does not seem to carry massive power or do anything particularly spectacularly but gets the most out of what talent he has and his workrate and graft make him hard work, certainly at domestic and Euro level, like yourself would doubt his ability to carry what he has to a world stage but a likeable blue collar type of fighter who deserves the opportunity to prove us both wrong.

Yeah watched the fight with a few mates. Was a really good scrap and the decision at the end was the right one. Was impressed with McDonnells chin - he ate some big shots early on but never looked to be in any real trouble.

Kudos to Hall as well - don't think he could have tried any harder but even he admited the better man won on the night. Not easy for Jamie by any means. Wouldn't write Mcdonnell off as far as getting a world title, althoughhe definitely needs to improve if it is to become a reality. Perhaps a few more fights on the Euro scene and he will be ready.

Cracking fight though!

Mcdonnell seems to be improving with every fight, they seem to be focusing on defence and movement which i think is a good idea as he was caught way too much in the Jamoye fight. I'd like to give him a couple more years before judging him on his world class credentials.

Was looking at boxrecs Bantam rankings and the only european they have in their top page is Vladimir Sidorenko. How do you reckon he would do if that fight happened?

Sidorenko has only lost to top guys so it would be a great fight for McDonnell I think Sidorenko might be past it as well so it could be a perfect time to get him. McDonnel is improving every time I see him. Jamoye caught him far to often but he did take them well and took a few good shots from Hall as well so his chin isn't a problem his defence is improving but at world level he would get exposed.

Cracking start the the season for Sky Sports. They must have loved it. Genuine fight between two evenly matched guys who left nothing behind in the ring. I doubt that McDonnell has the punch to mix it with the world class guys in what is a tough division right now, but if Donaire and some of the other leading lights move up in weight then he has a shot at picking up a belt, especially if he can get the fight in front of his home fans. Hall can come again as well. It was a close fight and I wouldn't mind seeing a rematch.

Did anyone else think the commentary reached news lows though in this fight? Listening to Watt and the other chap whose name escapes me for a moment, you would have thought that Hall had stopped fighting at all after round 4 and that McDonnell had morphed into Eder Jofre or something. They always get so carried away with the "home" fighter. For me, it became utterly cringeworthy.

Is the new guy the same guy that does KOTV? I kept thinking that the other night.

I think you're right Kev. That was bugging me the whole way through the fight. I don't know why they brought him in though, has Darke retired?

Commentators can ruin the best of fights.

Darke works for ESPN now just shows how little Sky care about boxing now.