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INTERVIEW | Sports
Down, But Not Out
Bernard Dunne talks to Paul Fitzpatrick about his recent disappointment in the ring, his time at Trinity and the future of Irish boxing.
Bernard Dunne sits glassy-eyed and pale-faced in the corner of a crowded ring at the Point Depot having been sensationally knocked out in the fi rst defence of his WBA Super-Bantamweight title by Thai boxer, Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym. The crowd are stunned into silence after Dunne is felled twice in the third round. At the bottom of the third, referee Jean Louis intervenes for the fi nal time and sounds what could well be the death knell on his boxing career. Kratingdaenggym and his entourage burst into a frenzy of celebration. Their whooping echoes around an arena that cannot quite believe what is has witnessed. Dunne, bitterly disappointed, apologies to a sombre crowd – a rare sight when the former Trinity student takes to the ring in the O2 Arena. He promises he’ll be back to fi ght another day. One can’t help thinking that we’ve been here before.
Dunne’s fi rst defence of his WBA title may have proven to be disappointing, but the memory of how he became the first Irishman since 1997 to hold a world boxing title offers hope of another comeback. Back on a beautifully timed evening in March – the same day as the Six Nations title was annexed – Dunne climbed off the canvas, literally, to knock-out a crack South American, Richard Córdoba, and wrote his name into Irish sporting folklore. He had, it seemed, achieved what many thought was beyond him. One wonders if he can do it again.
If anything, the past offers hope. However, time is against the 29-year-old. Before he got his crack at the title last March, Dunne went on the road taking in handy wins in Castlebar and the National Stadium before promoter Brian Peters managed to line up an unlikely shot at Córdoba. Having been written off as a beaten docket by blowhards and bar-stool brawlers alike, the Neilstown native was suddenly back in the big time. That seems like a long time ago and this time, Dunne knows it’s a completely different story. He announced that he would be taking some time off to refl ect on what was a damaging defeat in more sense than one. There is no doubt that he will fi ght again – after all he represents an attractive opponent, so there will be plenty more paydays. The likelihood though, is that those paydays won’t be in Dublin. Two losses to mandatory opponents have cost him his right to call his own tune.
But Bernard Dunne is more than the deposed champ. One of the most naturally talented amateurs this county has produced, he dominated the amateur ranks before being plucked from the Irish system by pro legend Sugar Ray Robinson at 21 and relocating to Los Angeles to train under Freddie Roach at the world famous Wild Card Gym, leaving a Physical Enhancement course in Trinity College to do so.
“To be honest I don't know what else I would have worked at. I've boxed all my life, I've been in boxing since the age of five so boxing is what I always wanted to do. When I reached the age of 15 or 16, I said to myself, this is what I want to do, to push on and thank God I did.”
“I went to the States, I was 21 and I said I'd give it three years and if it didn't work out, I could come back then and look for something else to do with my life, but we didn't have to. I did a year in Trinity College and I got the offer to go to America at that stage so that put college on the back burner for me."
“My wife moved out to the States with me. We settled down quite well and enjoyed the three years we were there. It was a fantastic experience but there's no place like home; that's for sure.”
50 | Trinity Today
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