'The best amateur, not the best pro wins Prizefighter' - Jim McDonnell

Jim McDonnell may be only one year short of being 50 (yes, 50) but he’s still fighting fit and helping his fighters do the same. (Jim goes for two hour runs most days!) The last man to beat Barry McGuigan currently trains Olympic gold medallist James DeGale, heavyweight John McDermott and fresh faced Prizefighter Steve O’ Meara.

Steve was eliminated at the light-middleweight semi-final stage last Friday night though some at ringside thought he should have been on his way to the final.

Jim gave me his insights on O’ Meara’s preparations and some views on Prizefighter when we met at his Loughton Academy training headquarters on Tuesday and I found him to be a down to earth, straight talker who loves to share his methods yet eager to hear other views (including mine) in his quest for peak performance.

One asset all McDonnell-trained fighters possess is an extremely high level of fitness and conditioning. Today gave testimony to that as I watched in amazement at the level of intensity De Gale and "Big John" were being trained at in preparation for six and twelve rounders respectively.

So with the Prizefighter being a somewhat shorter format (three, three-minute rounds) to the usual professional model did this change his pre-fight methods?

“Steve had to train different for Prizefighter because it is three rounds. I have boxed more than once in a night as an amateur so all the training had to be about what I call SAQ - speed, agility and quickness, high tempo interval training.” (Jog a set time then sprint a set time and repeat until total time is complete.)

“Sparring was cut down from between six and eight rounds to three-threes with half a minute rest in between. On completion he would rest for five minutes and then go again. This was kept up until the final ten days and then he done a twelve rounder (sparring three-threes four times). His training was all geared to Prizefighter.”

As you can see Jim doesn’t believe in hanging around in the gym does he? We then moved on to his experience of the night itself.

“”It reminded me of being back in the amateurs because all the fighters are in the same dressing room and it’s quite a laid back atmosphere as you don’t know who’s your next fighter, it’s a different type of atmosphere.”

Prizefighter has grabbed the boxing attention but Jim informed me it’s nothing new really. “The concept has only just come out in professional boxing but I was boxing three times a night 20 years ago so it isn’t anything new.”

So maybe it’s not the new kid on the boxing block then. Jim then left me in no doubt.

“It’s not a great invention, it’s been going for years. I know people who have boxed five times in one night.”

Jim, the ever learning teacher, doesn’t mind reflecting on what could have been because the chance of another Prizefighter may present itself again in the future.

“With hindsight, Steve got his tactics wrong in the second fight (against Flournoy) and if he had stuck to what he had done in the first round, Steve gets into the final.

“In the first fight (against Concepcion) he boxed to a game plan and it worked. The second fight again it’s three-threes, but if it was twelve rounds I would fancy Steve against anyone in the Prizefighter and I say that publicly.

“But it’s one night of three round boxing and completely different to professional, it’s all about tempo and getting your tactics right. The best amateur not the best professional will win Prizefighter.”

And history backs up Jim’s statement with the likes of top amateurs Michael Lomax and Audley Harrison taking the Prizefighter trophy.

“They have mastered the distance and the best way to sum it up is, would you put ex-sprinter Linford Christie in the marathon?”

Sporting McDonnell didn’t complain about O’Meara being on the wrong side of a split decision but said Steve got carried away with his fans chants of "Steve O."

“It’s all about experience, Steve has gone into an amateur based tournament and lost a fight to a guy that over twelve rounds he wouldn’t lose to.”

That said Jim then pays Flournoy a little credit. “He was a smart and intelligent southpaw and you have to work out a southpaw stance which Steve did in the first round.

"If you look on the fight tape which I have, you will see Steve got caught with a few shots but he never got smashed, he got piped.”

O’Meara may not have gone away £32,000 the richer but he is rich in other areas as Jim explains.

“Steve’s strength is his mind in and how he prepares for fights. He’s got good technical skills. You are talking about a guy who has got limited amateur experience but is knocking on the door of challenging for a vacant title.”

Not to forget he now trains with James DeGale which Jim says has brought him on immensely but Jim says there is always room for improvement.

“You never stop learning. He (O’Meara) is still a novice professional with only 12 fights. He is only a six-round fighter and like DeGale he has to get through the eight and ten rounders  to become a twelve-round fighter.”

Jim thinks Steve is ready to make his move into the bigger league sooner rather than later.

“His sights are set on domestic titles, I believe in reaching for the stars. He spars with DeGale everyday, he has sparred with Carl Froch and Darren Barker and is not fazed by any of them.”

So it looks as though Steve will come good in the future, but it was left to Flournoy and Arron to face off in the final.

And Prizefighter winner Prince Arron impressed Mcdonnell with his slick boxing skills.

“He’s a class act and reminded me of a young Tommy Hearns, he was a pleasure to watch.”

And it was a pleasure watching and listening to McDonnell.

Fancy a run?