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Newly crowned Commonwealth Welterweight Champion John O’Donnell believes he can follow stablemate Carl Froch all the way to a world title.
O’Donnell lifted the Commonwealth title at the York Hall on Saturday night in front of the ITV cameras after a twelve round thriller to take the belt from defending champion, Craig Watson.
O’Donnell’s preparations for the fight were boosted by sparring sessions with WBC Super Middleweight Champ Froch, who is currently in Canada ahead of his super fight with former undisputed middleweight kingpin Jermain Taylor in Connecticut on April 25.
“Sparring a fighter of Carl’s calibre gives you real confidence because you can’t get any better sparring that that,” said O’Donnell.
“Carl’s always been great to me and is always giving me advice. If you look at Carl’s career he’s done things the traditional way. He won the English title first and then the Commonwealth. Now I’ve done the same so hopefully I can keep following him all the way to a world title.”
Despite his joy at Saturday night’s win, the Shepherd’s Bush native says he wasn’t overly pleased at his performance. “To Craig’s credit, he fought a great fight but I should have made it an awful lot easier for myself,” said O’Donnell.
“The only rounds I stuck to the game plan were the sixth and seventh and they were my best rounds of the fight. I was getting to him in the seventh and if I’d have stuck to my boxing after that I think I’d have stopped him but instead I went back to the way I started the fight. The important thing was that I ground out the result in the end and won a fight where for most of it I neglected doing what I do best.”
O’Donnell believes that the experience gained from Watson will stand to him in the future. “I probably went into the fight with the wrong attitude and I went out to prove a point.
“He was doing a lot of talking in the lead up to the fight saying he was going to walk through me and stop me and I probably let that get inside my head so I went in there to prove that I could beat him at his own game rather than sticking to my boxing.
“From that point of view, it’s been a real learning experience but it was a great fight for the fans and I delighted to have the Commonwealth title.”
Many were tipping Watson to retain his title ahead of Saturday nights encounter but O’Donnell feels his performance answered plenty of questions. “I think I proved a few of the doubters wrong, a lot of people questioned if I had the chin or the stamina but I think I answered those questions and I also proved I can punch a bit.
“I’m not a one punch knockout artist but I certainly punch hard enough to get peoples respect and I had Watson hurt a few times in the fight.”
O’Donnell hopes to make the first defence of his title in the summer but in the meantime he’s happy to cheer on Froch and is tipping him for a massive win against Jermain Taylor later this month. “I honestly believe Carl is going to knock him out and for some reason I think he’s going to do it in the seventh so I’ll be off down to the bookies to put a few quid on that.”
Froch’s super fight with Taylor will be available to watch live and exclusive online via pay per view at frochvtaylor.com.
The pay per view costs just £9.95, or €11.00 for Irish viewers, and will give fight fans an opportunity to see one of the most eagerly awaited World title fights of the year.
For more information visit: frochvtaylor.com
