Dave Coldwell has had adequate time to digest Gavin McDonnell’s losing performance against Daniel Roman earlier this month in Chicago. Full of confidence before battle commenced, Coldwell’s reaction to the defeat is one laced with slight disappointment, but he remains proud of the effort produced by McDonnell and remains adamant that his charge has still has the attributes to potentially become world champion.

“He didn’t start quick enough,” admits Coldwell, pointing to the main issue as to why Gavin fell short.

“I was certain that Roman would jump out the blocks and Gavin had to match him every single step of the way. One slight worry I’ve had with Gavin is getting him to start quicker because he sometimes takes a couple of rounds to get going, but this was a night where he wouldn’t be allowed to do that. He had to open himself up a bit to get back into the fight and once he did that then there were gaps for Roman to exploit. It wasn’t the result we wanted, but it’s happened now and we have to go back to the drawing board and decide where to go next.”

McDonnell’s 10th round reversal to Roman is his second crack at world glory after also falling short against Rey Vargas in February 2017. He rebounded from that defeat by proving beyond doubt that he’s above British level with resounding wins over Gamal Yafai and Stuart Hall.

Coldwell is not sure of what plans are currently in place for the Doncaster star, but he’s insistent that any return will be at the highest level and not at domestic class where McDonnell has repeatedly proved himself.

“He’s not going back to fighting for British and Commonwealth belts. He’s been down that road and it was too easy for him in the end. Against Vargas he was beaten by the better man and there was only one point in it on two judges’ scorecards before it went wrong against Roman. I’m convinced he has it in him to become a world class fighter and he deserves the opportunity to stay at that level and perhaps get another crack. He’s 32 now and I don’t want him having hard camps for fights that he’ll win easily. I’m hoping his team can work together and get him another shot at something big.”