Sunday 7 October 2018 06:25, UK
Gavin McDonnell suffered a 10th-round stoppage loss to WBA champion Daniel Roman as he fell short in his second attempt to win a world title.
The Doncaster super-bantamweight produced a spirited performance, but Roman had controlled the fight with his composed ring skills and halted his challenger with a sustained assault at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
Beginning on the back foot, McDonnell pushed out probing jabs in the opening round, and both men traded body shots from close quarters.
Roman showed more aggression in the second, finding his range with crisp right hands, and the Californian bullied McDonnell to the ropes in the third.
The British fighter targeted the ribs of Roman in the fourth, but his classy foe was content to stand and trade, inflicting a bloody nose on McDonnell as they entered the middle rounds.
McDonnell's gritty persistence was rewarded in the eighth when he caught Roman with a flurry of right hands, while the 32-year-old forced the champion into reverse with cuffing hooks in the ninth.
But Roman brought a sudden end to the fight in the next round as a straight right forced McDonnell's legs to dip before a barrage of punches dumped him to the canvas. McDonnell rose unsteadily and the referee had seen enough.
