The 29 year-old proved that he was indeed fighting at the peak of his career with another world-class performance to defeat the former WBO belt holder for the second time in four months.
McDonnell boxed brilliantly whilst holding off flashy combinations by Kameda and dropped the Japanese fighter into the bargain to comprehensively seal the triumph in the final round at the American Bank Center in Texas.
Having already overcome Kameda once, but by the slightest of margins, the Doncaster man deserves high praise for heading back over to the same state and coming through even more convincingly.
After the pulsating contest on Premier Boxing Champions, and despite US TV commentators seeing the fight heavily in Kameda’s favor, McDonnell didn’t see what all the fuss was about.
“I didn’t think it was a controversial decision because I always felt in control, and I believe that I won the fight comfortably,” said the two-time 118-pound champion.
“My jab was the key in the fight, and it was a great weapon for me. I just had to make sure that I stuck to the game plan we worked on for over eight weeks.
“When I dropped him in the last round, I think he did slip a little bit. I tried to stay away. But I did catch him. After that, I know I sealed the victory.
“Everything went according to plan. The plan was to box him and catch him with some big shots.”
The Yorkshireman is now considering a move up to super bantamweight for a future clash with WBA 122 pound title-holder and stablemate Scott Quigg, which promoter of both Eddie Hearn could easily put together in the coming months.
