Gavin McDonnell itching to get going ahead of Daniel Roman clash

The Dunscroft fighter simply cannot stay away from the gym, even though the training camp for his clash with Daniel Roman has not officially begun.

McDonnell will head to Los Angeles on October 20 to challenge Roman for his WBA super bantamweight title.

And he cannot wait to get started on working towards the fight.

“I’m itching to get going properly in camp,” he told the Free Press.

“It’s easy to go in ticking over, do sessions, not eating rubbish. It’s not wasted.

“I’m going to start camp in a couple of weeks. I’m not too bad.

“It’s tiring but I’m getting all the aches and pains out of the way 12 weeks out instead of nine or ten.

“It will all tell in the end when I win that belt.”

When McDonnell fights on October 20 it will represent an 18 month journey since his last world title bout.

He showed his ability to mix at the elite level with a valiant performance in defeat to the supremely talented Rey Vargas with the WBC title up for grabs.0

What followed however was a period of uncertainty with no guarantees that he would again earn the opportunity to reach the pinnacle of his sport.

But after months of stagnation followed by two high risk clashes with Gamal Yafai and Stuart Hall, McDonnell has secured his chance.

“Sometimes you think, is it ever going to come?” he said.

“It just shows if you work hard enough, it’ll come.

“I’m just thankful that I’ve got another shot. I didn’t care who it was or where it was, I’m just grateful for another shot.

“I think I’m a lot better fighter than I was the first time around.

“It might have been a case of that or a case of the opponent being a little bit special.

“This kid is good, but so am I.

“I know this year is my year. I’ll pull it out of the bag one way or another. It’s just meant to be.”

The 32-year-old’s training camp is set to be interrupted by the birth of his second child next month.

But he insists he will be ready for the challenge of Roman, who has won 25 of his 28 fights.

“He’s a good fighter,” McDonnell said.

“His last five opponents, they’ve lost one between them. He’s doing everything right.

“I think his style suits me. If I could pick a world champion I’d fight him.

“I think I’ve fought the best world champion in Rey Vargas and the hardest to beat. He had everything on me and was that little bit better than me.

“But this kid, I’ve got a lot of things on him and I’m probably better than him in a lot of ways. He’s got the world title.

“I’m on a roll and he is as well. I think it’ll be a good fight on the night.”