Hennessy Boxing: Stylist O’Donnell Confident For Glover Fight

Commonwealth Welterweight champ John O’Donnell is relishing the opportunity to showcase his skills at the Watford Colosseum on September 5th.

The Shepherd’s Bush southpaw will meet upset specialist Tom Glover in the main event of a Hennessy Sports event live on ITV4.

Despite Glover’s impressive recent form O’Donnell is adamant that there will be no surprise result this time round.

O’Donnell has enjoyed an excellent year himself which has seen him capture the Commonwealth title and earn a place on the BBBofC’s shortlist for the Young Boxer of the Year award.

However the 23-year-old stylist believes the best is yet to come and he’s determined to improve on his title winning effort against Craig Watson last time out.

“Looking back at the tape of the Watson fight I realised that I didn’t really do myself any justice,” admitted O’Donnell.

“I won the fight by fighting his fight instead of sticking to what I do best. He got under my skin a little in the build up and I wanted to prove that I could stand toe to toe with him and beat him at his own game. I did that but I could have made it so much easier for myself if I’d used my boxing ability.”

O’Donnell is determined to put the lessons learned against Watson to good use when he meets Glover next month.

“Tom’s on a great run, he’s beaten some good fighters in his last few contests and I was impressed with his win over Jon Thaxton last month but I’m 100% confident I can do a job on him. Boxing is all about levels and I believe I’m simply on a different level to him but it’s up to me to go into that ring and prove it.

“He’s a tough kid and he’ll be looking to drag me into a fight but I’m just going to have to be disciplined and use my speed and boxing ability to outclass him. I know I need to improve on the Watson fight. I won but I wasn’t at all happy with my performance and I know there’s plenty more to come from me.”

O’Donnell wants to end Glover’s good run before seeking out a clash with British Champion Kell Brook. “I’ve won the Commonwealth title and I want to do things the traditional way by winning the British and European belts as well before hopefully getting a crack at a World title. I believe I’m good enough to go all the way and now that I’ve the Commonwealth title I want to push on and start adding the other belts as well.”

The chief support at the Watford Colosseum will see Lee Purdy and Peter McDonagh clash for the vacant Southern Area Welterweight title in a repeat of their first thrilling encounter last December that saw McDonagh emerge victorious on a narrow points decision.

The undercard also features unbeaten prospects Steve O’Meara, Richard Towers, Bradley Evans and Bobby “Boogaloo” Ward alongside the pro debut of Brendan Ingle’s new Yemeni sensation Kid Galahad (subject to board approval).

Tickets priced £35, £40 and £75 are available from the Ticketline box office on 0844 888 4402 or via www.ticketline.co.uk.