John has the look of a champion

Kilburn Times Ziad Chaudry10th September, 2009

PROMOTER Mick Hennessy believes John O'Donnell has all the attributes of a champion after watching him retain his Commonwealth crown on Saturday.

The 23-year-old from Shepherd's Bush was in a class of his own as he comfortably destroyed game challenger Tom Glover in six one-sided rounds at Watford Colosseum.

Hennessy, who is now working to secure a showdown with the current British champion, Sheffield-based Kell Brook, told the Times: "John's maturing as a champion now.

"You can just see the difference in class. He's got the attitude of a champion and he's got quick hands, so it's going to be impossible for a lot of European and world level fighters to cope with.

"He's the mandatory challenger for the British title now, which is where we are going to go next, but he's not that far from getting a shot at the European.

"I want to get it right with John because he came to me at a very young age at 18 and he's still on the learning curve. I believe if I take my time with him then he will be a cracking world champion."

O'Donnell, who was watched at ringside by his former Dale Youth ABC colleague, Olympic champion James DeGale, took his record to 22 wins from 23 outings on Saturday.

Glover went into the bout on the back of taking the scalp of former European lightweight champion Jon Thaxton, but found himself completely unable to cope with the power of O'Donnell's shots.

"I hit him with everything," O'Donnell reflected after the fight.

"I caught him with a good left uppercut when I broke his nose and I knew sooner or later the referee was going to jump in and stop it.

"To give him credit, he kept coming and coming at me so I take my hat off to him."

On the undercard, former Dale Youth light-middleweight Steve O'Meara produced a lacklustre performance during his six-round shut-out success over West Midlander Kevin McCauley.