Jamie McDonnell finally gets date for Solis rematch

Jamie McDonnell will finally have his WBA bantamweight title rematch with Liborio Solis on November 4.
Liborio Solis and Jamie McDonnellLiborio Solis and Jamie McDonnell
Liborio Solis and Jamie McDonnell

The Hatfield fighter will return to Monte Carlo where he successfully defended his title against Solis in controversial fashion last year.

And when the first bell rings on fight night it will be 358 days since the two first met – and since McDonnell last fought.

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The rematch was ordered almost immediately due to outrage over the scoring of the fight which saw an off-colour McDonnell earn a unanimous decision, despite many observers believing Solis had done enough to win.

Early in the year McDonnell’s team entered negotiations for him to defend his world title against Paul Butler and were ready to pay a ‘step-aside’ fee to Solis to make it happen.

A date was set on a Frank Warren-promoted show which was later pulled from the schedules, putting Solis back on the agenda for the 31-year-old.

Purse bids for the bout were put out by the WBA and agreed, initially for it to be staged on a Matchroom Boxing bill at the Sheffield Arena this month.

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Again, that show was never staged, seeing the purse bids cancelled after fight details were not passed to the WBA.

Another agreement was reached in late August and now fight details have been released, seeing McDonnell returning to Monte Carlo for a second time.

The last year has been disappointingly quiet for the two time world champion who started 2017 looking to unify titles before a move up to super bantamweight.

Scott Quigg – a potential future opponent for McDonnell – is also on the Monaco bill.