Jamie McDonnell v Julio Ceja

In little under a months time Doncaster’s own Jamie Mcdonnell gets a chance at a world title against Julio Ceja for the vacant IBF bantamweight title. Big fight for the town and Jamie as he bids to become Doncaster’s first ever world champion. As I have not seen much of his opponent or seen much chat about this thought I would post this up to get people’s opinions on his opponent and chances.

I really hope Jamie can get this done. Would be a massive boost for the sport in the region and in the open air at the Keepmoat could be quite an event. Have a lot of time for Jamie personally, may not be the most gifted of guys but seems a genuinely hard working pro and his approach to the game reminds me a lot of another personal favourite in Clinton Woods in that he gets the absolute maximum he can out of his talents and is more than willing to put the graft in to make it in the sport. Suspect he does not have enough dig to mix with the real elite but has enough in his locker to be a tough night for anyone outside of the true elite, which I hope includes Ceja.

Does he have a chance in this one? Am hoping people can confirm he does.

Ceja is unbeaten with a 91% KO percentage and McDonnell has lost twice!!.

I'd know who I'd be betting on..

I like McDonnell, and he's paid his dues going through domestic and European/commonwealth level the proper way and is deserving of a shot. He is pretty good fighter also, good chin, great stamina and good fundamentals. He may not carry 1-punch KO power but has the power to keep you honest and walking him down

Don't know a hell of a lot about his opponent. He is a young mexican and has alot of knockouts but has fought sub par opposition and only in Mexico. What he will bring is a good fight as he seems aggressive and McDonell likes to get into a tear up

This is Leo Santa Cruz's vacated title isn't it. McDonell is lucky he isn't fighting him as he is a bull and is too good for Jamie. Should be a fun night and winnable for Jamie

It's a great little fight and one I'd be attending if I hadn't agreed to attend a stag do on that very same day (Ricky Burns also fights that night and on the Glasgow undercard there's a wonderful trade fight in Simpson vs Choi). Way to go stag organisers.

McDonnell's losses can be discounted to a degree - he was fighting part-time back then and his head wasn't on right. Jamie's win over Stephane Jamoye looks better with every subsequent win the Belgian racks up.

Ceja is powerful but raw and so McDonnell will fancy he can out point him but one slip and it could be timberrrrr....

It will be worth attending for those in the vicinity.

mcdonnell has only lost twice (by SD and 1 point in a bout scored by a ref) against decent opposition, and since then has been storming through beating the likes of hall and zamora, picking up a euro, british and commonwealth title.

ceja looks very well matched, fighting mostly 3-4 fight novices for the first few years of his career and never going past journey men. i'm backing jamie to bring the belt back.

McDonell has admitted that one slip up and its lights out against this guy and I see that as a good sign that he is willing to acknowledge that fact.

Backing him to win on points though.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Ceja is unbeaten with a 91% KO percentage and McDonnell has lost twice!!.

I'd know who I'd be betting on..

You would have lost bucketloads when Burns fought Martinez then.

I like Jamie McDonnell as people have already said he has done things the hard way, he's pretty solid all round fighter but his power could keep him away for the elite but he could pick up this title and make a good couple of £££ for himself.

I though he was very lucky to get the nod against Napa. I didn't have high hopes for him after that but he proved me wrong and has racked up a decent set of wins since then.

People have said about Ceja only fighting sup par Mexican opposition but there arent that many journey man in Mexico, they are more like club fighters who are in the gym most weeks and come to fight. Gary Buckland fought a 3-10-2 fighter on the Hatton undercard and didnt have it all his own way and won a close UD decision. Even Crolla only managed to eek out a SD against 5-4-3 Mexican club fighter. Ceja has fought decent set of fighters in his last few fights so I wouldn't say his record is that padded. But I have never seen him fight so I couldn't comment on how good he actually is.

I hope that being out home in a packed out open stadium makes the difference and he becomes the first boxer from Donny to pick up a world title.

Julio Ceja is an excellent young fighter.

As his record shows, he can bang.

He could be a future Mexican superstar and I expect him to win by massive KO inside 5 rounds.

I was at the Motorpoint for McDonnell's IBF eliminator, and watching it you could really appreciate how much he's come on in the past couple of years. His defence really is very handy now in particular and, like a Ricky Burns for instance, he's looking like a fairly strong all-rounder.

I don't know anything about Ceja barring his KO record, however. McDonnell will be a step up from anything he's been facing in his homeland so far, but on the other hand there's a good chance that he's bringing power to the table which McDonnell's simply never experience before and may not be prepared for, either.

From the outset, this is a winnable fight for McDonnell thanks to his defence and the fact that he's got home advantage, and it probably the most likely route to a world title. Moreno and Kameda would be too much for McDonnell, certainly right now in any case, and Santa Cruz can be added to that list as well, but there's good money to earn from flossing an IBF belt for a year or so before he's forced in to those kind of fights if he's successful here, so I really hope he can do it. Got a lot of time for McDonnell.

Difficult to predict, this one. What the hell, McDonnell to nick a split decision.

Is this on TV?

Although I know nothing about the fighters themselves, I think four of Cejas victims have fought for world titles in the past 3 years, no idea if they're any good but gives a slight indication of their level.