Will O'Donnell's newborn son be a distraction?

Press Release: John O’Donnell admits he has had sleepless nights ahead of his next fight on Friday at the Nottingham Arena, but because he is going to challenge for his first championship belt. The welterweight faces fellow unbeaten Stuart Elwell on the undercard of Carl Froch’s super middleweight fight against Sergey Tatevosyan. O’Donnell, who spars with Froch, is 14-0 as a pro, is matched against Elwell, (9-0), for the vacant English welterweight title will be on the line. However, it is a newborn son, not Elwell that has O'Donnell losing sleep.

“We’ve got a three month old baby called Cody and he’s great, but also hard work,” said O’Donnell, a junior Olympic gold medalist. “It has been tough because he just doesn’t stop crying. Boxing is easy compared to it! He was born on 19 December, but wasn’t due until January. He was kept in hospital for a bit but was okay. I was supposed to be fighting Elwell on January 19, but my mind wasn’t on it and of course my training was interrupted, so we all decided it was best if the fight was put back. Now I’m ready. With my routine I’m up early every morning at 6am to go running. When Cody first came home I used to have sleepless nights when she starting crying, but now I just move into the spare room and there are no problems. Having a baby has not softened me up though; it has made me more determined now I’ve got the family to support.”