Boxing/Professional promotion: There was a worry that this could go horribly wrong. Had Bernard Dunne been built up too high, too soon?

The first time RTÉ has taken a punt on Irish talent since Barry McGuigan was asking a lot of the 25-year-old. On Saturday night, Dunne allayed those fears with a clinical destruction of Jim Betts.

And he clearly enjoyed the moment, gliding into the National Stadium ring to a typically rumbustiously Dublin reception. Still, a nervy opening round followed, only punctuated by one decent overhand right, before Dunne's superior boxing repertoire ensured the Englishman was denied in his efforts to incite a dirty war.

There were some ugly moments though. Dunne got his jab working in the second, busting Betts nose early, but after a dubious clash of heads a cut appeared over the Neilstown man's left eye. Then a low blow momentarily stalled forward momentum.

This was the only way Betts could gate-crash the homecoming, but Dunne's trainer, Harry Hawkins, and manager Brian Peters saw this stumbling block ahead of time.

"They were saying don't lose the head when I get into the ring," said Dunne afterwards. "I could do what I want going into the ring, but once the bell went I was to concentrate on what I was doing. I think I done that because he tried to lure me into a brawl once or twice, but we stuck to our plan and boxed well."

With the third and fourth rounds came the unerring rhythm that has been harnessed Stateside over the last three years, with the jab being ably assisted by stinging body shots.

Then, in the fifth, a left to the ribs sent the winded Betts to his knees. He agonisingly tried to shake it off but the night was over.

"I just missed once or twice early on, you know? He was a tough guy. He definitely came to fight. Brian's developing me well and putting the right guys in front of me to develop me as a fighter. I'm just happy that I came out with a victory. That was the main thing."

The mastermind behind the six-fight bill was Peters, and after this performance he confirmed the stadium will no longer be able to equal demand, with the RDS and the Point being muted as potential venues.

Yet as the bandwagon gains pace, Hawkins tightened the reigns by reminding everyone that Dunne is yet to fight a 12-round contest with Saturday only his second scheduled 10-rounder of a mere 15 (undefeated) professional fights.

Still, the goal is to get a crack at European champion Nicky Cook, who although undefeated in 24 fights was curious enough to check out Dunne's return at last Friday's weigh-in.

There were other stories on the night, none more so than Francie Barrett's controversial points (59-56) decision over Oscar Milkitas. Barrett never troubled the Lithuanian while he was on the end some big shots in the second and fourth rounds.

"I thought I put up a fairly decent performance but not as good as I expected to put up," said Barrett. "He was an awkward opponent - he's welterweight and I'm middleweight, he's no light-welterweight. The next time I box I expect to box a bit better.

"I was a bit nervous as I didn't know what to expect. I think I boxed as good as I could have because I wanted to please the crowd more than anything else."

The southpaw will be defending his EU light-welterweight title in the coming months.

There was no doubting the clinical performance of Jim Rock who stopped another Englishman, Peter Jackson, after 2.58 of the seventh round. Rock floored his opponent in the third, but Jackson rallied before the Dubliner, just like Dunne, switched to the body with devastating effect.