Jamie McDonnell vs. Liborio Solis on Nov.4

By Boxing News - 09/25/2017 - Comments

Image: Jamie McDonnell vs. Liborio Solis on Nov.4

By Scott Gilfoid: After sitting out of the ring for the last 10 months, WBA World bantamweight champion Jamie McDonnell (29-2-1, 13 KOs) will be defending his title in a rematch against #3 WBA Liborio Solis (25-5-1, 11 Kos) on November 4 on the Dmitry Bivol vs. Trent Broadhurst card at the Salle des Etoiles, in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Bivol vs. Broadhurst will be televised on HBO Boxing in the States. It seems that Bivol is being positioned as one of HBO’s next stars. He’s got the Golovkin-like punching power. HBO is catching Bivol at the right point of his career at 26. He’s got a lot of time left.

McDonnell, 31, beat Solis by a HIGHLY controversial 12 round unanimous decision last year on November 12 in Monte Carlo. The judges scored the fight 116-113, 115-113 and 117-111. Boxing News 24 had Solis winning easily by a 117-111 score. It wasn’t even a close fight. Solis, 35, dominated the lanky 5’10” McDonnell from start to finish despite giving up 5 inches in height. It was an absolute mismatch.

McDonnell looked so outclassed in the later rounds that he appeared discouraged, and helpless. Even the boxing at ringside was in a state of shock when the judges’ scores announced giving McDonnell the victory.

It should be interesting to see how solid the judging is for the McDonnell vs. Solis rematch. McDonnell goes into the fight as the A-side, and I think it could put Solis in a situation where he’ll need to really give him a pounding if he wants to escape with a victory. Hopefully, we don’t see another robbery like last time, because boxing is still reeling from the Saul Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady “GGG” Golovkin – Draw in the Desert fight from September 16. The fans need to see some quality judging.

Also on the November 4 card is former world heavyweight title challenger Dereck Chisora (26-7, 18 KOs) challenging European Union heavyweight champion Agit Kabayel (16-0, 12 KOs) for his belt. Chisora, 33, recently signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport promotions. Hearn wants to have Chisora pick up the EBU trinket, and then fight a rematch against Dillian Whyte, who Chisora lost to last December in a controversial 12 spit decision. The ultimate goal for Hearn is to have the winner of the Chisora vs. Whyte fight face IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in an in house Matchroom Sport fight. Joshua will need to his part by holding onto his IBF and WBA titles long enough for him to face the winner of the Chisora vs. Whyte 2 fight.

Former WBA super bantamweight champion Scott Quigg (33-1-2, 24 KOs) will be fighting Oleg Yefimovych (29-2-1, 16 KOs) in a 12 round WBA featherweight title eliminator match. Quigg is ranked #IBF, #3 WBC and #11 WBO. The 36-year-old Yefimovych is ranked #5 WBA and #11 IBF. Quigg should win this fight. He’s got a big advantage in youth and power over Yefimovych. The winner of the Quigg vs. Yefimovych fight becomes the mandatory challenger to World Boxing Association ‘regular’ 126 lb. champion Abner Mares. Quigg is trained by American trainer Freddie Roach now. This will be Quigg’s second fight with Roach as his trainer.

Quigg has won his last 2 fights in beating Jose Cayetano and Viorel Simion since getting beaten by Carl Frampton by a 12 round split decision a year ago on February 27, 2016.

As for Bivol, it’s unclear whether Hearn has added him to his Matchroom Sport team. It doesn’t make much sense for Bivol to be fighting on Hearn’s card if he’s not one of his own fighters. If Bivol is one of his fighters, it would be good to see Hearn match Daniel Jacobs against him. I know Jacobs is a middleweight, but he’s rumored to rehydrate to cruiserweight for his fights in the 160 lb. division. Bivol vs. Jacobs would be a lot of fun to watch. I doubt that Jacobs would want any part of Bivol though. Bivol is like a bigger, stronger version Gennady Golovkin. If Hearn has added Bivol to his team, then that’s an even better addition than Jacobs. Bivol, 26, is a lot younger than Jacobs, who is about to turn 31, and he doesn’t have any issues with his chin. Bivol and Trent Broadhurst will be fighting for the vacant WBA World light heavyweight title that was recently vacated by Badou Jack. Bivol vs. Jack would have been a great fight. Jack has other plans though for him to give up his WBA title without a fight. Bivol was Jack’s WBA mandatory challenger, and there was a purse scheduled for today that would have taken place had Jack not suddenly vacated his title over the weekend.

“We are delighted to be back in Monaco for an incredible evening of world championship boxing live on Sky Sports in the UK and HBO across America,” said Hearn to skysports.com. “I’m excited to watch Dmitry Bivol, one of the most exciting young fighters in world boxing, and of course to see the world title rematch of Jamie McDonnell versus Liborio Solis after their last close encounter.”

Bivol will likely destroy the overmatched Broadhurst to win the WBA light heavyweight title. Solis will be too much for McDonnell, again. That’s my prediction. That’s not to say that Solis will get the win. I don’t know that he’ll get the win unless he knocks McDonnell out.