Jamie McDonnell representative claims split with Hobson

By Terence Dooley

Terry Moran, representing Paul Crowley & Co. Solicitors, has issued a statement on behalf of Jamie McDonnell claiming that the IBF bantamweight titlist has split from long-time promoter and mentor Dennis Hobson, who guided his charge to a world title shot against Julio Ceja at Doncaster’s Deepmoat Stadium despite a lack of regular TV dates or a long-term TV deal.

McDonnell, 21-2-1 (9), beat Ceja by majority decision in May and looked set to make his first defence of the belt live on BoxNation after Hobson sealed a deal with Queensberry Promotions last week, which brought with it the backing of BoxNation, the U.K.’s only dedicated subscription boxing channel.

Now, though, McDonnell’s legal representatives are claiming that his deal with Hobson, who has also worked with Ricky Hatton and Clinton Woods, amongst others, is no longer active and that the 27-year-old is moving on to pastures new.  ‘He has served a notice of determination of his boxer-manager agreement based on a number of breaches,’ stated Moran.  ‘Namely [having had] only one fight in the past 12 months.’

Hobson has told BoxingScene that he will respond in full in due time.  The promoter managed to line up Ceja despite having to hustle up a TV slot for McDonnell, who eventually landed a delayed broadcast spot on Sky, and was instrumental in finalising the deal with BoxNation, which was seen as a chance for the Doncaster-born boxer to step into the limelight after his hard-fought world title win.

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