Jamie McDonnell beats Liborio Solis – Results

By Boxing News - 11/12/2016 - Comments

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By Scott Gilfoid: WBA World bantamweight champion Jamie McDonnell (29-2-1, 13 KOs) retained his 118lb title with a highly controversial 12 round unanimous decision win over #2 WBA challenger Liborio Solis (25-5-1, 11 KOs) on Saturday night at the Salle des Étoiles, in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The judges scored the fight 116-112, 115-113 and 117-111 for McDonnell. Boxing News 24 scored the fight 9 rounds to 3 for Solis.

The crowd booed the decision by the judges. There was virtually no cheering at all for McDonnell, who looked glum as the decision was announced. One gets the feeling that McDonnell might not have been feeling so good about hearing the booing for his controversial win.

McDonnell suffered a bloody nose in the 2nd round from the huge shots he was getting nailed by. Solis caught McDonnell against the ropes and worked him over royally with a flurry of lightning fast power shots to the head. McDonnell was all arms and legs, and completely powerless to get anything in between all the shots Solis was raining in on him.

McDonnell’s best round of the fight came in the 9th round, when he hurt Solis with a left hook to the head. McDonnell then flurried on Solis as the round ended.

McDonnell fought well in the 10th round as well in landing a lot of nice shots. Solis wasn’t throwing as many punches by that point in the fight.

In the 11th and 12th, Solis came back strong to dominate the action in staying close to McDonnell and nailing him with shots. Those were clear rounds for Solis.

I think this was one of the worst scored fights I’ve ever seen before. Solis not only deserved the victory, but he deserved a fairly wide victory. The judge that scored the fight 117-111 for McDonnell must have been watching a different fight than I did, because that score made no sense at all whatsoever. None of the scores made sense, because Solis totally dominated McDonnell.

The controversial decision kind of showed what Solis was up against in this fight. McDonnell was the champion. Solis probably needed a knockout to get the win tonight, because the scoring of the fight made no sense all, period.

You’d like to think that Solis, 34, will be given a rematch against McDonnell to clear up the controversy of tonight’s questionable decision. I’m not holding my breath though. I doubt that Solis will get a second chance against McDonnell. I see Matchroom Sport taking McDonnell in another direction by matching him against a soft opponent from the bottom of the World Boxing Association’s rankings.

It’s too bad tonight’s card had to be marred with this dreadful decision. I can’t say I’m surprised by this. I figured there would be at least one questionable decision on the card, and this happened to be the one. You’ve got to feel sorry for Solis. He fought his heart out, and appeared to win by a lopsided decision.