John O'Donnell (born 13 November 1985, in Galway, Ireland) is a London based Irish professional boxer who is the current Commonwealth welterweight champion.
Professional career
O'Donnell, an Irish Traveller, had his first professional in April 2004 with a win over journeyman Jason Nesbitt at the Penningtons Nightclub in Bradford. Over the next three years he would fight 13 more times without defeat against a series of journeymen opponents before earning the right to fight for the English title in May 2007. His opponent for the vacant English belt was fellow unbeaten prospect Stuart Elwell. The fight ended with a 10 round points victory for O'Donnell.
Defeat and Regroup
Following his win over Elwell, O'Donnell next travelled to Las Vegas in May 2007 to fight Mexican Christian Solano on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather's fight with Oscar De La Hoya. The bout ended with disappointment for the 15-0 prospect after the fight was stopped in the 2nd round giving victory to the Mexican. Such was the devastating nature of the defeat; O'Donnell took a year off from boxing and only returned in May 2008 with a win over journeyman Billy Smith. Four more victories followed in 2008 before being given the chance to fight for the Commonwealth title in 2009.
Commonwealth champion
O'Donnell's shot at a first major title came on 11 April 2009. In the opposite corner, the champion Craig Watson, had himself claimed the title with a win over Namibian Ali Nuumbembe and made one defense against Matthew Hatton, the brother of Ricky. It was a step up in class for O'Donnell and signaled his entry into the top tier of domestic boxing with victory over Watson via a split decision in a close and scintillating contest. O'Donnell had been due to make the first defense of his newly won title on 5 September 2009 but due to problems had to settle for a non-title contest over 12 rounds against Tom Glover. The fight, shown live on ITV4, was too much of a step up for Glover who was stopped in the 6th round with O'Donnell having taken full control.
