Boxing: Over the past 12 months it has become increasingly apparent that Neilstown's Bernard Dunne heads a group of Irish fighters with enough talent to mark them out as credible world title challengers over the coming years.
Dunne's next bout in January at the National Stadium, where he will be seeking his 19th straight professional win, along with Limerick's Andy Lee finally declaring that he will be turning professional and the regular healthy reports from America where Derry's John Duddy is turning heads in the middleweight division, make for an interesting future.
Dunne's fight against the tough Romanian Marian Leondraliu last Saturday in Leipzig attracted a live peak viewing figure of 215,000 on RTÉ; his fight before that in Dublin a 235,000 audience. The 25-year-old's profile is growing and under the tutelage of promoter Brian Peters, Dunne continues to take sure and considered steps rather than leaps and bounds, which would, in the short term, be more lucratively headline grabbing.
While his next opponent has yet to be decided for the January 28th show, the addition to the undercard of Michael Gomez, the Irish-born Mancunian, is something of a coup for promoter Peters. Gomez was the WBU super-featherweight title-holder until February of this year when he lost the belt to Javier Alvarez in Manchester after the referee stopped the fight in the sixth round.
Gomez left Inchicore in Dublin as a 10-year-old and now has a bigger global profile than Dunne but opted to take on Peter McDonagh in Dublin rather than go with Frank Warren, who had hoped to match him with Willie Limond for the WBU lightweight title in Scotland. The 28-year-old has moved up a division from super-featherweight, where he is now more comfortably making the scales.
"Michael has always wanted to fight back home in Ireland and I'm delighted to give him the opportunity," said Peters.
The famously talkative Gomez was less diplomatic than the Meath promoter. "I've been a professional for 10 years. I struggled and went too far in taking the weight off. I'm happier now at lightweight as Peter (McDonagh) will know because I'm going to smash him in five or six rounds," he declared.
The recent announcement by Irish champion Lee that he is to turn professional represents another blow to the amateur sport in Ireland. Lee had established himself as a world-rated amateur with a haul of medals that included a World junior silver and a European senior bronze. He also fought in the 2003 World Championships and the 2004 Olympics.
The waiting is now over as he prepares to join trainer Manny Stewart in Detroit's famous Kronk Gym. At 21, he is four years behind Dunne but just as ambitious. "This is a dream come true," he said. "I am over the moon that the deal is sorted, the perfect Christmas gift for any boxer. I can now look forward to starting my professional career in the New Year."
Belfast's Brian Magee will have home advantage for his clash with Carl Froch on March 31st with Froch's British and Commonwealth super middleweight titles at stake.
