Dennis Hobson column: No sour grapes, but I made Jamie

Jamie McDonnell lands clean on Tomoki Kameda on his way to successfully retaining his WBA bantamweight title in Corpus Christi, Texas.

He’s obviously on the up, and he was always going to be in these big fights because I got him there!

Without getting into a slanging match, I created Jamie McDonnell and I’d only say someone is a good trainer if they’ve had someone from the off, like I did with Clinton Woods.

Jamie already had ability but it needed shaping, which I did, mentally and physically, by sending him to different gyms to work with different people.

So for him [Dave Coldwell] to say that is ludicrous. Get someone from scratch and develop them into a world champion like I’ve done!

There’s no sour grapes and I’m proud of what we’ve achieved.

Jamie would be a lot wealthier if he’d stayed with me and we had big fights lined up for him, so we were already moving on with his career. I got him the opportunity to fight in his home-town and he’s not fighting at home now.

He is doing a great job, but he has great ability. Has he drastically improved though? Not for me and I think it’s ludicrous to suggest it.

[Editor’s note, below is a right of reply from Dave Coldwell: “Everybody is entitled to their opinion but as long as a fighter himself feels he is improving that is the important thing. If he doesn’t then we’d have a problem.

“The job Dennis did for Jamie and Clinton Woods taking them from the start to where they reached was fantastic. Dennis has nothing to prove but nor do I! As for not fighting in his home town that’s nothing to do with me, but as long as the fighter is getting the fights and money he wants he is happy. Freddie Roach isn’t known for taking boxers from scratch but his reputation speaks for itself. Fighters change the people they work with regularly.]

Carl Frampton v Scott Quigg - who wins?

Frampton will be too much for Quigg in just about every department. I think it will be a cracking fight but I think Frampton has just developed a bit more than Quigg and has a bit more polish and class. It’s not a mismatch but Frampton will have the answers to cope with Quigg. I think it will go to points but there’ll be some drama too. It won’t be the end of the world for Quigg either, there are some great fights out there for him and he’s never in a dull match anyway.