Jamie McDonnell Ready to Be the Star in Texas in Rematch vs. Tomoki Kameda

They may say you should never go back, but Jamie McDonnell has no issues returning to Texas to fight Tomoki Kameda again.

The pair of bantamweights will clash for a second time on September 6, with the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi the venue for their rematch on Premier Boxing Champions.

McDonnell won the first meeting, staged in Hidalgo, Texas, back in May, outpointing his Japanese opponent despite suffering a knockdown in the third round.

His WBA title was on the line then, and it will be again when he faces Kameda in a rare Sunday bout that will be screened live on both sides of the Atlantic.

The belt, however, is of no real interest to McDonnell. Boxing isn’t now, and hasn't ever been, a passion for the man from Doncaster. Instead, it's a way of making money.

“[McDonnell] is not in love with the sport. He’s in love with the fact that he can fight and it makes him money,” explained his trainer and manager, David Coldwell.

“Everyone is driven by something. His passion is earning money for his family—he’s driven to do that.”

The proverb “once bitten, twice shy” means nothing to McDonnell. Going back to face a fighter who he only narrowly defeated on the scorecards, and who dropped him to the canvas in the early stages, may seem a risky career move.

But McDonnell doesn't mind taking risks. This is strictly business.

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While there was a rematch clause in the contract for the first fight with Kameda, the 29-year-old is happy to go back over old ground because it makes financial sense to do so.

Coldwell admits the money on offer is “unbelievable,” adding, “Al Haymon is like the fairy godfather at the moment. We had a choice of boxing for peanuts over here or boxing in America for money that will look after [McDonnell's] family.”

Peanuts simply don’t interest McDonnell, whose twin brother, Gavin, is currently the European champion at super bantamweight.

He could yet join his sibling at the 135-pound limit. The move into a division that currently includes two British world champions—Englishman Scott Quigg and Carl Frampton from Northern Ireland—would open the door to more big paydays.

“What we’ve got to do is to see how he makes the weight for this next fight. If he makes it comfortably enough, then we will do another fight at bantam,” said Coldwell.

“If he can do the weight, the next fight we could do—and the carrot has been dangled in front of us—is massive.

“If you’re talking big money for bantamweights, you’re talking America. If you’re talking nice little defences against people you haven’t heard of, then it’s back home.

“If that fight [that has been dangled] doesn’t come off, however, we will step straight up to super bantamweight.

“The best scenario is—he beats Kameda, has this one more fight at bantamweight, wins that and then moves up and fights Scott Quigg.”

Kameda can throw a spanner in the works when he gets the chance to take on McDonnell again.

The 24-year-old from Osaka will be eager to avenge his first career loss last time out in a fight that saw all three judges score it 114-113 in McDonnell's favour.

However, Coldwell is urging the Englishman to make sure it isn't so close the second time around: “I believe that we need to win the rounds more clearly than we did last time.

“If we can do that, I think Jamie’s strength—plus he’s hitting a little bit harder now—could mean we end up stopping him late.”

A win, any kind of win, would keep McDonnell on course for those major fights—for sizeable cheques—that he wants.

He has quietly gone about his business for much of a career that looked in danger of going nowhere when he lost successive bouts to domestic rivals Chris Edwards and Lee Haskins.

But since that second reverse in 2008, McDonnell has been on an astonishing run. His 18-fight win streak has included becoming British and European champion. The IBF title he lifted in 2013 was never lost in the ring, instead being taken from him by the governing body over issues surrounding a mandatory defence.

He claimed the WBA belt by beating the experienced Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat last year, and he has successfully defended it twice now.

Dave Thompson/Getty Images

While in no way a big puncher, he is a pleasure to watch because of his nonstop motor. He is the boxing equivalent to the process of weathering—he breaks down opponents with repetitive, consistent attacks, stripping away their layers to eventually leave them exposed and at the point of crumbling.

When you take into account what he has achieved so far, McDonnell deserves to be considered one of Britain’s best right now.

Yet BoxRec—a website considered the encyclopedia of the sport—ranks McDonnell at 23 among active Brits. You have to click to the second page of the list just to find his name.

When asked if his fighter is still underappreciated in his homeland, Coldwell instantly replies, “Absolutely. If you look at what he’s won—he’s won everything.

“After beating Kameda, he should have had more exposure. But he didn’t get it.

“Now, though, [the rematch] is the one. Since the fight has been announced, everyone is talking about it.

“If he goes out there and performs when he’s in the window like he is now, then it will properly snowball.”

Expect McDonnell to do everything he can to keep the momentum going. His desire has nothing to do with belts or building a legacy. All he wants to do is build a better life for his young family.

Boxing is just a job to Jamie McDonnell—and he’s damned good at it, too.

Rob Lancaster is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes used in the article were obtained firsthand.