The experienced Edwards eventually won the title via split decision after twelve hotly contested rounds handing a first defeat for the Doncaster man.
[4] Following two straight defeats to British level fighters, McDonnell regrouped by returning to m and beating journeyman Anthony Hanna via fifth-round stoppage.
Two fights on the island of Jersey then followed with McDonnell scoring stoppage wins over imports Krastan Krastanov and Alain Bonnel before travelling back to Doncaster to defeat James Ancliff again before the final bell had been heard.
On 22 January 2010 McDonnell got his chance to fight for the British title once again, this time for the bantamweight version held by the experienced Ian Napa.
The fight, at the Brentwood Centre in Essex, saw a tough battle result in an upset split decision win for McDonnell with the added bonus of the vacant Commonwealth bantamweight title also being on the line.
The fight, in Cannes on 20 March 2010, resulted in a surprise victory for the man from Doncaster with a tenth-round stoppage over Arnould to lift his third title in a row.
[6] McDonnell made his first defence at the Doncaster Dome on 2 July 2010 against the newly crowned Italian champion Rodrigo Bracco and managed to retain the belt with a third-round stoppage win.
[7] He returned to the Dome for his second defence on 22 January 2011 beating Stephane Jamoye in a close contest with scores of 115–113 114–113 114–114 despite having a point deducted in the eleventh round.
Had he lost the contest McDonnell would have been stripped of his European title but there were no such concerns as he scored a unanimous decision victory over Nick Otieno.
On 31 May 2014 McDonnell fought Tamadang Da Rachawat for the WBA (Regular) bantamweight title on the undercard of Carl Froch vs. George Groves II at Wembley Stadium.