BOXING:Bernard Dunne has secured a world title fight in Dublin when he takes on Panama's Ricardo Cordoba for the WBA Super Bantamweight belt at the O2 Arena in Dublin on Saturday, March 21st.
Dunne, who turns 29 next month, will take to the ring in front of home crowds and will contest the same belt Barry McGuigan famously won back in 1986 when the “Clones Cyclone” defeated another Panamanian, Eusebio Pedrosa.
“This is the fight I’ve wanted since I first put on a pair of boxing gloves,” said Dunne at today’s announcement in Dublin. “It’s every boxer's dream to be a world champion and I’m no different. This is what I’ve worked my whole life for and now that the chance is here I want to grab it with both hands.”
The last time world title fights were staged in Ireland was 1996 when Steve Collins defended his WBO super-middleweight title against Neville Brown in Millstreet, Cork in March that year, while three weeks later Wayne McCullough took a split decision and the WBC bantamweight title against Jose Luis Bueno at the O2 Arena - then known as The Point.
Some 13 years on both Cordoba and Dunne were in Dublin today to promote the latest world title fight on Irish soil and the Panamanian claims not to have paid much attention to his opponent.
“I know his name and record and I’m told that he’s a good technical boxer and that’s all I need to know for now,” said the champion, whose record reads, 34 wins (21 by knockout), one defeat and two draws since turning pro in 2000.
“I don’t even watch videos of my opponents. It’s not a sign of disrespect. I just prefer to assess them when the bell goes for the first round.”
Dunne earned a shot at Cordoba’s world title after a trio of wins over South American opposition - Cristian Faccio, Damian David Marchiano and Felix Machado - in 2008 left him ranked 11th in the WBA standings. The Dubliner will have his work cut out against the tall southpaw, who won the title with a landslide points win over Luis Alberto Perez in Panama last September.
“He’s a class fighter, you don’t get to be a world champion without having that little bit extra than most,” said Dunne. “He’s still only 24 but he has a lot of experience and he’s been competing at the top level for so long now and you have to respect that.”
That said he shrugged off suggestions he would enter the ring in March as underdog.
“That’s for the bookies to decide, that might take a bit of the pressure off me but at the end of the day it will only be the two of us in the ring and whether you’re labelled the favourite or the underdog it doesn’t matter as soon as you step between those ropes.
“It’s what you do in that ring on the night that counts and I know I’m as good as anyone else out there. If I didn’t believe that then I’d have no business in there.”
Dunne upped his training for the fight before Christmas and says preparations will intensify all the way to the fight date. “I’m flying already. I’m way ahead of where I would normally be this far out before a fight.
“This is the most important fight of my career so I want to make sure that no stone is left unturned in my preparations.”
Details of the Hunky Dorys World Title Fight Night undercard will be announced next week.