Gavin McDonnell sets his sights '“ and his brother's '“ on Quigg and Frampton

Gavin McDonnell is convinced the next British fighter to face Scott Quigg or Carl Frampton after this weekend's mega-fight will be a member of his family.
Gavin McDonnell. Picture: Andrew RoeGavin McDonnell. Picture: Andrew Roe
Gavin McDonnell. Picture: Andrew Roe

The Doncaster fighter’s WBC super bantamweight title eliminator against Jorge Sanchez will provide the chief to support to Quigg and Frampton’s highly-anticipated clash at Manchester Arena.

McDonnell knows victory will boost his chances of facing Quigg or Frampton in the future – just as his twin Jamie plans to do when he joins his brother in the super bantamweight ranks.

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Gavin admits he is still a way off being ready to fight the UK’s leading super bantamweights but believes his brother would have no issues.

And he is convinced WBA bantamweight champion Jamie deserves greater recognition than both Quigg and Frampton.

“The next fighter to fight either one of them from the UK is going to be me or my brother,” McDonnell said.

“Fair dos, they are a little bit ahead of me but they’re not ahead of our kid.

“He’s on par and if not achieved more than both of them.

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“He might not be the bigger name but he’s achieved more than both of them.

“As soon as he moves up, he’s in the mix.

“I’m a little bit off but I’ll be there within the next couple of fights.

“I don’t expect them to want to fight me because I bring nothing to the table.

“But if I can get a world title, they’re going to want to fight me.”

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Should McDonnell beat undefeated Panamanian Sanchez on Saturday, he will be in line to face current WBC super bantamweight king Julio Ceja – the man his brother beat to win the IBF bantamweight title in 2013.

And he is confident if he is victorious this weekend that he has the ability to match Jamie’s achievement against Ceja.

He said: “This is a massive fight this weekend, a world title eliminator for the green belt and we all want that.

“Ceja is the world champion. I think I can beat him and I could beat him in the next fight or two.

“I’m confident and I would be going in.

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“We’re just chipping away and this year I’m hopefully going to be a world champion.”

Opponent for this weekend Sanchez has won all 15 of his fights to date, stopping nine early and he has never fought beyond eight rounds.

He was scheduled to face Leeds’ Josh Warrington at featherweight in December only for the bout to be called off due to illness.

Instead Sanchez – four years McDonnell’s junior – was named in this weekend’s WBC title eliminator.

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Jamie McDonnell is set to fight on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s challenge for the IBF world heavyweight title against Charles Martin on April 9 at London’s O2 Arena.

Following what is expected to be a routine defence of his world title – against an as yet unannounced opponent – Jamie has been mandated to face WBA Super champion Juan Carlos Payano in a unification bout later this year.

He has long spoken of his intention to step up to super bantamweight during the next couple of years with Quigg and Frampton firmly in his sights.