Irish Boxing

Bernard has come back from a devestating defeat before and he's not too old to be able to do it again, It would be a long road back but maybe a jump up to Featherweight and a push for the IBF title would be the way to go if he chooses to continue.

What's your take Marty, do you think this is the end of the road for Dunne at World Level?

 

I genuinely dont no ninebar. Bernards punch resistance is so poor, Im of the impression that any times he steps up he will be exposed:-(.but Im in the dumps atm and thinking the worse, maybe in a couple of days I will be more upbeat:thumbsup

 

lads what can you say..................

 

Maybe i'm being the eternal optimist here but that defeat last night could make Dunne an attractive opponent for any world champion who is looking to fight someone with a decent record but who isnt deemed too dangerous. Just my thoughts.......

 

It would have to be at a higher weight. Dunne is totally ****ed at super bantam. Anyone know why he is so reluctant to move up to featherweight? It is so obvious that his poor punch resistant is due to him being weight drained.

 

Maybe because soon enough featherweight will have the likes of Izzy Vasquez,Lopez,Gamboa,Caballero,chris John all fighting at the weight.

Not easy....

Is it really just his weight affecting his punch resistance??I'm not convinced

 

Big problem for Bernard now is that whoever he fights with a little pop in their punch will do the same thing.

The talk from the opposition trainer will go something like this 'his punch resistance is low, and he doesn't have the discipline to stay outside for 12 rounds, so keep walking him down and when you finally get him to trade on the inside just load up and let it all go'

Unfortunately, more than likely, that will work. I know we're all disappointed and I certainly don't want to try and write Bernard off but his inability to follow a gameplan yet again was disappointing. Again, I wonder did he feel the extra pop in those punches McGurns regime gave him would allow him to be able to stand there and not come off 2nd best.

Also, sorry to ask again, but anyone that watched on tv or on the replays, was there a particular punch that hurt Dunne badly in the 2nd and left him gasping for air in his corner all through the break? It was pretty noticable to me that he was really trying hard to get air into his lungs during the break. Then he goes and stands toe to toe with the lad in the next round :-(

It really is a long way back from here. Apart from being physically very badly hurt (really badly considering it was only 3 rounds) you have to wonder what mental scars it will leave. When a lad says it will take him 'a very, very long time to get over this' you'd wonder whats next. Also, after he lost to Martinez he wasn't hurt. This time he was in a lot of phyical pain to add to the psychological effect. What I don't want to happen is for him to go on and start getting hurt by journeymen and middle of the road nobodies.

Munroe is the obvious route but just as there was nothing in it for Dunne to fight Munroe now the tables have turned. If he beats Maladrottu he's going on to fight Nishioka.

His major problem now is marketability because you can forget selling out the Point anymore (for the meantime anyway). So its back to the stadium or Castlebar which is not what he is looking for at this stage of his career.

Also, I find it hard to see the 'soft' way even back to EBU level at FW. Simpson, Appelby, Truscott, Lindsay etc... I know hes a better boxer than all those but lets be honest, and mention the elephant in the room, we've all seen boxers come off losses like Bernards and never be the same again. I really hope it won't happen but its certainly a possibility. Its one thing seeing him getting hurt and badly beaten against Poonsawat but it would be really hard to swallow to have to see him get bowled over by average Euro level fighters as he tries to get back into it.

He said a good while ago he wants to retire at 32. He's going to be 30 before hes back in the ring again (can't see him fighting before next spring) so he'd have a short window of opportunity to make it a long way back and I don't even know where you would start :huh :-(

 

Ok you have a point there As it is now featherweight is a pretty weak division compared to super bantam, if he had moved up to featherweight after the Kiko defeat he could have beaten a few top guys I'm sure. Dunne looks so weak at 122, compare that to how he looked in his first few fights in the US, he was skinny yeah but he looked so much more solid. The weight drain coupled with the gruelling training camps have taking there toll on him big time.
It's probably other factors that make him vulnerable around the chin but I guarantee weight is the biggest factor.

 

My gut tells me he should retire, like he said he accomplished his lifelong dream, he lost to one of the best, so what, there's zero shame in that. He would have a great career in commentary or in whatever he wants to do. Better to hang up the gloves before the Cordoba win becomes a distant memory and as you say, some average boxer takes advantage of the mental and physical scars he might have after last night.

The fight is up on Youtube if you want to check out the second round, you're right though, he didn't look good in that corner.

 

Honestly, I haven't the heart to watch it again. I was on the phone to my da after the fight and he was watching replays of it and he was oohing and ahhing as he was watching them back telling me they were some sick looking punches and were really hurting Bernard badly. It'll be a while before i look back at that.

 

Yeah maybe he should of went the cristobal cruz route when it was on the cards. But still, Dunne was a world champion and thats no mean feat.....
I personally cannot see him operating well at world level if you look at the level of opposition and champions in both divisions, but i hope i'm wrong.

There is still some good domestic fights that could be made and good earners and would satisfy the fans..

 

I checked it out earlier. Watching it on tv he looked even more impreesive in round 1 then I initially made out from my vantage point in the 02, which is high praise as i already stated that he comprehensively won that round.
Poonswat was getting to him in round 2 and then just unloaded with lightning quick shots in rd 3. The first KD was a peach

 

I know what you mean, I literally could not watch that last night. The poor guy looked in bits.

My little 6 year old who loves Bernard stayed up to watch it and he was in floods of tears when Bernard went down. I know it's only a sport and all but this **** is ****ing painful to watch.

 

It is a shame he lost out. Just thinking to myself that could well be the last World Title fight we see in the o2 for a long time. I know we have some great talented fighters who can go far but for some it will be hard for them to fill out the o2. Who would be a big enough ticket seller out there to do it now? Macklin maybe but I can see him fighting for a World title maybe in the UK or Germany depending on who he goes after.
Lee and Duddy a fight between the 2 would sell out the o2 on there own I doubt it a lot. McCluskey I would love to see him fight in the o2 but I dont think he has the following to fill it out just yet. Hyland bros big question mark on them I am pissed RTE didn't show Pajos fight with the amount of time free they had. Stopped the programe 30 minutes early ****ing shamefull by RTE how is he going to get a following from armchair fans? For a venue like that and the atmosphere it creates it has become a brilliant venue for fight fans not a bad seat in the place.

 

that was my first boxing match in dublin...the atmoshere in the o2 was everything that i was told it would be..terrific...but dunne has nothing to be ashamed about...his bravery getting up from the knockdowns was awesome...hope he can come back from this