McDonnell retains titles

Jamie McDonnell continued his ring education with another hard-fought points victory over the durable Nick Otieno in Sheffield.

The 25-year-old, making the first defence of his Commonwealth bantamweight title against the Kenyan, made it nine wins in succession as he overcame the early threat of the veteran African.

McDonnell, who would have lost his European strap should things have gone against him, eventually got on top to win by a wide margin.

The action was frenetic in the opening round with Otieno hunting McDonnell down, looking to land with a sharp jab while the home fighter successfully worked the body.

It was clear McDonnell had a fight on his hands in the next as the Kenyan produced some smart combinations, but again the Doncaster fighter proved his worth by answering back in kind with the rangy left hand.

After a messy third that saw neither boxer gain the upper hand, McDonnell sought to dominate with the jab although it lacked the usual snap amid fears that he is starting to have trouble making the weight.

But the champion had his best round in the fifth - a body shot opening up Otieno for a neat combination of blows that had the challenger on the defensive.

By halfway the Englishman appeared to have the African's measure, seemingly able to evade Otieno's aggressive bursts while scoring with heavy rights to the head and body.

McDonnell spent the seventh round on the back foot but the challenger was unable to connect cleanly and it came as no surprise to see the taller man reassert in the next, connecting with a solid right late in the session.

The 25-year-old continued to edge it through the later rounds, the 10th being a particularly good one for the youngster as his opponent found it increasingly difficult to respond to his accurate jabs and straight rights.

McDonnell emerged for the 11th like a man on a mission as he sought to become the first to stop Otieno inside the distance, but despite spending much of the three minutes on the offensive, the durable Kenyan never looked like crying enough.

The champion continued to out-work his opponent and it came as little surprise when the judges scored it 120-108 twice and 118-111 in the Briton's favour.

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Carl Froch praises Glen Johnson as an old-school hero.

Carl Froch watched in shock and awe as 46-year-old Bernard Hopkins won the world light heavyweight title last weekend.

Next Saturday Froch meets another ­legendary veteran when he ­defends his WBC super-middleweight title against Glen Johnson in Atlantic City.

World champ Froch said: “Hopkins and ­Johnson are part of ­boxing’s forgotten breed of old-school heroes.

“They get better with age and are certainly more dangerous now than they were when they were younger.

“Johnson is 42, but ­forget the number – he has been a world ­champion at light-­heavyweight and he’s my ­biggest threat.

“Let’s hope that old-timers like Hopkins and Johnson can persuade a young whippersnapper like (Joe) Calzaghe to come out of retirement.

“Calzaghe’s only 39 and a fight with him is the British super-fight that the fans would ­really love.”

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Just champion!

Nathan Cleverly says he would've beaten anyone on Saturday night - even former champion Juergen Braehmer.

The new WBO light-heavyweight champion breezed through his first defence with a fourth-round stoppage of late stand-in Aleksy Kuziemski at the O2 Arena.

Cleverly was far too good for the Pole, who had been drafted in on Thursday night, following Braehmer's no-show on Wednesday and Tony Bellew's failure to make the weight on Thursday.

He was named full world champion in between but said all along he would not feel like one until he had dispensed with Kuziemski.

And although he got wobbled by a left in the third, there was no doubt that Cleverly cemented his standing at the top of the light-heavyweight division, alongside the likes of Bernard Hopkins, also in action on Saturday night.

"It feels great," he told Ringside.

"It hasn't been an eays path for me. I've won the Commonwealth, British and European titles, I won a world-title eliminator and then the interim and I've finally won my world title.

"To be fair I wasn't out of first gear. Three-and-a-half rounds in and you could see the state of his face - he had a cut eye and a busted nose.

I felt good in there, I felt strong. I think had Braehmer been in there on that night it would have been the same result."

Cleverly admits he has not sat down and planned his next fight, although his trainer, father Vince, fancies Hopkins next.

The Executioner became boxing's oldest world champion when he out-pointed former WBC boss Jean Pascal in a rematch at the weekend, but Cleverly Snr is convinced his son has the beating of one of the sport's modern-day greats.

Bellew, who caused a stir and clearly rattled Cleverly at last week's press conference and the Welshman admits both are an attractive option now he is a finally a world champion.

"Hopkins is the number one in the division, so he's the long-term goal," he said.

"He's a great fighter and even to share a ring with a legend like that would be some achievement. It would be amazing.

"Bellew is a possibility. Obviously at the moment he's got business to take care of with Ovill McKenzie (in a July rematch), but I am sure that will be a great fight for the British public down the line."

There is also talk of an all Welsh-battle with former cruiserweight world champion Enzo Maccarinelli, who is now campaigning at light-heavy - and was ringside at the O2 Arena on Saturday.

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