Jamie McDonnell vs Naoya Inoue Preview May 25th
WBA Bantamweight Champion Jamie McDonnell of England will be taking on unbeaten Naoya Inoue of Japan in Tokyo this Friday, May 25th. The 12-round bout can be seen live on This will be McDonnell’s sixth defence of the vacant crown he won in 2014 and he’s taking on a former WBO Jr. Bantamweight Champion on his home turf. McDonnell last fought in November when his rematch with Liborio Solis had to be stopped in the third round with a no-decision due to a cut suffered by McDonnell. Inoue’s last outing was in December when he stopped Yoan Boyeaux in the third round. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the UK on Sky Sports.
McDonnell vs Inoue Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Jamie McDonnell +450
- Naoya Inoue -600
My Pick
The 32-year-old McDonnell of Doncaster, England is 29-2-1 with 13 Kos to his name. He’s also a former IBF titleholder and hasn’t lost since 2008 with 21 straight wins. He captured the vacant WBA championship after beating Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat. He’s defended the crown against Javier Nicolas Chacon, Tomoki Kameda twice, Fernando Vargas and Solis. McDonnell likes to throw punches in bunches and doesn’t really possess much in the way of knockout power with a current KO ratio of 41 per cent.
McDonnell turned pro back in 2005 and has boxed 245 rounds up to now. He stands 5-feet-10-inches tall with a 72-inch reach. He’s a former British and Commonwealth Champion and owns one of the sport’s longest winning streaks at the moment. He lost his first fight by 12-round split decision to Chris Edwards back in December of 2007 and then lost his next outing four months later when Lee Haskins beat him on points over eight rounds. That fight in March of 2008 was the last one he’s lost.
The 25-year-old Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue defended his WBO Junior Bantamweight Title seven times and is now moving up in weight. Inoue became a world champion in his sixth pro fight when he beat Adrian Hernandez by sixth-round stoppage for the WBC Light Flyweight Title in May, 2014. He defended it once then moved up to super flyweight and took the title from Omar Narvaez by second-round KO in December, 2014.
Inoue has been a bit of a sensation since turning pro back in 2012. He’s a hard hitter with good boxing skills and now stands at 15-0 along with 13 big Kos. He’s boxed 91 rounds as a pro and has a very impressive knockout ratio of 87 per cent. He stands just over 5-feet-4-inches tall and has a reach of 67.5 inches. This means he’s a full six inches shorter than McDonnell and has a 4.5-inch reach disadvantage.
Inoue enjoyed a fine amateur career and since turning pro he’s gone 10-0 with 9 Kos in world title fights and has also beaten the likes of Ryoichi Taguchi, Kohei Kono, David Carmona and Ricardo Rodriguez. He’s also gone 4-0 with 3 Kos against current or former world champions in Taguchi, Hernandez, Narvaez and Kono. This is a tough test for Inoue since he’s quite a bit smaller than McDonnell and will be fighting as a bantamweight for the first time.
Prediction…
McDonnell has some slick boxing skills and usually lets his hands go. He’s also got a pretty good chin and has a decided height and reach advantage. Inoue is a solid, young two-time champion though who has plenty of power. This should be an exciting and interesting fight and I’m leaning towards Inoue to pull out a win.
Inoue appears to be an upcoming star.
Play: Inoue -600 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form
Jamie McDonnell betting • Naoya Inoue betting