McDonnell fought Leigh Wood for the vacant British Super-Bantamweight title in Hull on 22 February 2014.
His next fight came in the form of Vusi Malinga on 25 October 2014 in a contest for the vacant WBO International Super-Bantamweight title.
McDonnell dominated the fight from start to finish and also sent Malinga down in the 8th round with a beautiful right hand.
On 16 June 2018, McDonnell outpointed Stuart Hall, 117–111, 117-111 and 115–113 to a unanimous decision victory and successfully defended his WBC regional title.
[1] On 6 October 2018, McDonnell fought Daniel Roman for the WBA super-bantamweight world title.