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Daniel Roman stops Gavin McDonnell in 10th round

Daniel Roman. Photo by Stacey Verbeek
Fighters Network
06
Oct

Daniel Roman made the third defense of his WBA “regular” 122-pound title with a 10th-round stoppage of former title challenger Gavin McDonnell on the Jessie Vargas-Thomas Dulorme undercard on Saturday at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.

Roman, a 28-year-old Los Angeles resident, buckled McDonnell’s legs with right cross with about 50 second left of a hotly contested Round 10 and followed up with an assortment of power punches, including a pair of flush uppercuts, that put the game Englishman down with 30 seconds left in the round. McDonnell, a 32-year-old native of Doncaster, got to his feet but referee Mark Nelson waved the bout off at 2:36.

Roman (26-2-1, 10 knockouts), The Ring’s No. 4-rated junior featherweight, overcame a near-5-inch height disadvantage and McDonnell’s stick-and-move tactics early in the fight, which was streamed live in the U.S. on DAZN. He worked McDonnell’s body with both hands and zeroed in with right hands and uppercuts to the head.



Roman and McDonnell go at it. Photo by @DAZN_USA

However, McDonnell (20-2-2, 5 KOs), who had won four in a row since dropping a majority decision to WBC beltholder Rey Vargas last February, remained defiant and active, often outworking the Southern Californian. But it was Roman who landed the crisper, harder shots, which bloodied McDonnell’s nose by Round 5.

“Gavin McDonnell is a hell of fighter,” Roman said after the fight, “he gave his best, but it was my night. I tried to work the body and get in close but there were some headbutts, which made that difficult, but we knew we could get to him even though he came in great shape.

“I want to challenge all the champions, I want all the belts. Let’s unify.”