Top Of The World Ma!

By Barry Hanley

Before the heady days of Italia 90 Irish sporting glory was pretty sparse to say the least.

All that changed when a pasty pint-sized battler emerged from the town of Clones. Few will ever forget the epic fight at Loftus Road in 1985 when Barry McGuigan went to war with Panamanian WBA Super Bantam Champ Eusebio Pedroza.

Twenty-seven thousand raucous fans filled the Queens Park Rangers Stadium to watch the Irishman's crack at all the marbles.

I watched it in the sweaty confines of a packed TV room at Saint Jarlath's College in Tuam.

The atmosphere was electric as the mustachioed mauler from Clones tore into Pedroza with those legendary left-hooks and a surprise package straight right that put the Panamian on the canvas.

It was an unforgettable experience and in the busted beak business the absolute apex of Irish fisticuffs up to that point. Pure and utter jubilation. The priests had a hard time handling the mayhem that ensued in that boarding school in the west of Ireland on that particular night.

As a sportswriting hack it's hard to rise above the "exhausted hyperbole and intermittent eloquence" so prevalent when describing these rousing events but if you witnessed the scrap live you know what I'm on about.

On March 21st 2009 another Irishman had his shot at glory. Fresh on the heels of an historic Grand Slam by the Irish rugby squad the crowd at the O2 Arena in Dublin were in optimistic spirits. The Celtic Tiger might have been bruised and battered but the big cat still had some bloody bite.

Ironically, Bernard Dunne, a fresh faced 29-year-old Dubliner, had the doorway to the big prize barred by another Panamanian.

This time it was the lanky WBA Super Bantamweight champ Ricardo 'El Maestrito' (the little master) Cordoba.

The parallels don't end there. The 'Dublin Dynamo' much akin to the 'Clones Cyclone' had a penchant for a wicked left hook to the body.

The fight was incredible. Cordoba went down in the third but Dunne, possessing a vulnerability that makes him even more appealing, also went down in the fifth.

Showing incredible intestinal fortitude or, in the vernacular, balls of solid steel, he rallied and finally won the bout after felling the game Panamanian three times in the 11th round earning a victory by TKO.

The newly crowned inspirational Irish champ was gracious enough to have a few words about his love for boxing and what made him get off the blood-spattered canvas.

"I started boxing with my two brothers down at the amateur club down in Inchicore. At that age I was only messing and tagging along but I had my first fight at the age of six. I enjoyed fighting so much that that was it."

The blood and guts battler from Belfast with the 'virtually unlimited absorptive capacity for percussion' Wayne McCullough is extremely keen on fighting Dunne. When asked about him Dunne replied, "Wayne's a good mate of mine. I know he wants to beat me up but he's still a friend of mine. There's a lot of people who want to fight me now so we'll see what happens."

On the prospect of fighting the big names of the division like Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez and how he feels after the bruising Cordoba fight Dunne said, "I'd fight any of them really. That's the great thing after the Cordoba fight. I'm feeling grand now. For the first few days I was very tired. I was exhausted. Obviously the head was sore. We clashed heads several times. I'm brand new now. I got ten stitches though."

I was curious as to what got Dunne off the canvas in the fifth round. "It just seemed like so much happened in the last eight seconds of the fifth round. I remember lying face down on the canvas and I was hurt. I mean I was really hurt.

"I looked up and I could see my Mam wasn't looking at me and that kind of stuck in my head, the fact that she wasn't looking. She had her head in my Dad's chest.

"Then I just saw my coach screaming 'Get up. Get Effin up on your feet.' I survived the round and then I just seemed to recover so quickly. I really did. Coming out at the start of that sixth round I was ready to go again."

I wondered did the shocking loss to Spaniard Kiko Martinez stoke Dunne's fire to carry on. "No. It was really the opportunity itself. You know? To get to fight for the world title in front of your home fans. That in and of itself was phenomenal. And I think the fact that so many people considered me the underdog it took a lot of pressure off me Barry. It took an awful lot of pressure off me and really allowed me to be a little more myself. It relaxed me a bit more."

Is that an Irish thing I wonder. Do we like to be underdogs? "I was very aware of being the underdog going into this fight. But I was in really fantastic condition. I really was. I knew that myself. If I could box as well as I know I can box I knew I was definitely in with a chance of beating this guy."

Was there any particular difference in Dunne's training camp prior to the Cordoba title shot? Dunne explained, "My strength and conditioning went up an awful lot more. I worked an awful lot on good core exercises because we knew Ricardo was a big body puncher. It was big time conditioning for a solid five or six weeks."

People who saw the fight remember Martinez being stretchered out of the ring. There were concerns about the game Panamanians long term prognosis. "He's fully recovered. It was sheer exhaustion I believe. You saw the fight. Losing a fight like that takes a lot out of you and I'm glad it wasn't me that came out on the losing side."

Dunne's favourite weapon? "Ah, it's the left hook. The left hook is my favourite punch."

Another Irish fighter, besides wee Barry, was 'Irish' Mickey Ward: "I saw Micky in Dublin for the Shay Neary fight."

Ward is currently the subject of a soon to be released movie starring Mark Wahlberg. "I actually trained with Wahlberg. He was keeping fit in the gym. Freddie Roach's gym in Hollywood. I trained with Freddie Roach for three years." (Roach is currently training Manny Pacquiao for the Hatton megafight on May 2nd)

The 600-pound gorilla in the room for Dunne is the shocking loss to Spaniard Kiko Martinez.

One hates to ask such a modest and affable fighter about a fight that put a serious dent in his psyche. But would the young Dubliner like to avenge the loss?

"Right now I'd fight anybody. There's nobody I fear. You know I think I showed that against Ricardo. Kiko knows that Ricardo is one of the best fighters out there. I beat him and beat him well. There really is nobody I fear at this stage.

"Let's have some fun and see how far we can bring this thing. Let's have a go at the big boys and see what happens. We haven't even talked about the next fight because I've been away from the wife and kids for such a long time. I've just been relaxing. Today was actually the first day I met up with my trainer and manager [Tuesday April 7th]. We just got to visit the President. We still haven't discussed our next move but we plan on doing that in the next few weeks."

"I haven't really had a chance to enjoy the victory. I was so tired the first week and the second week I went away with my wife and kids. And this week has been so hectic. I haven't had the time to actually sit down by myself and soak in what we've achieved. I'm definitely ready to get back on the road though and into the gym."

Bernard's father has been and continues to be a huge influence on his son. Having represented Ireland in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal he's well equipped to guide him through the snakes and ladder journey that young fighters have to navigate.

"My Dad would be a big influence on my career. Even though he doesn't coach me anymore he still has a big role to play in everything I do. He watches tapes of my opponents and studies them and we'd have a chat about them.

"It's just good to have a strong family support in anything you do. He boxed in the 76 Olympics in Montreal. He coached me from the age of 5 until I went to America [Dunne fought and won all 14 of his fights on American soil] and he's been an absolutely huge influence on everything I've done."

I asked Bernard what it meant for him to be an Irishman? "You know, when I was in America it meant an awful lot to me.

"I had people driving 15 hours to watch me fight and these are people I never met in my life.

"Just because they were so patriotic and you're a white Irish kid, a young skinny Irish kid doing what he was doing in America. People didn't know me from Adam. They were coming out to support a young Irish kid and it was phenomenal and something like that just shows what it means to be Irish to me."

"Since I've come home the fans have been really special too. The people are a shining light for me really even in the dark times when I had just got beaten by Kiko.

"They didn't walk out on me. [Many had not even taken their seats when the fight was stopped] They stuck behind me. I was just delighted to get a big time fight in Dublin for the home fans to see. That's always been my ambition really.

"It was a hard thing to put together. It was something I wanted to persevere at. For any champion to get here is a tough thing to do. We've got the support where we've been able to do it. We've got 20,000 fans that come and watch us box. That's huge."

For a fighter as popular in Ireland as Dunne I wondered if he'd relocate to the States again. "I'm happy in myself training in Ireland now. I loved being in the States. I loved training with Freddie Roach. He's a special coach and a super individual but I'm much happier here in myself. I mean I have two young kids and a wife and all my family is around me here. I'm a home person."

I asked Dunne who he had for the upcoming Hatton vs. Pacquiao fight. "That's going to be a humdinger you know. I think Pacman's speed can cause Ricky problems. Ricky has good upper body movement. He needs to rough up Pacman. He can't allow him to shoot off from distance.

"I think it's going to make for a great fight. The Hitman is trying to get in past him and whack him you know.

"I know both of them very well. I sparred with Manny for three years when I trained with Freddie and I know Ricky from around here. I tell ya, Manny is just an incredible puncher with both hands and his speed is electrifying. But Ricky is such an aggressive fighter. He comes forward constantly. It's going to be interesting. It'll definitely be better than the De la Hoya fight."

In closing, WBA Super Bantamweight Champ Bernard Dunne sent out a message to his American fans. "Thanks for your support when I was out there. You know, I hope they do get to enjoy my fights even though they might be back in Ireland.

"I have friends in L.A and they watch all my fights on the net and watch them live. I have friends from Belfast that helped me settle in when I was over there and they flew over to see the fight which was fantastic."

A die-hard Liverpool fan Dunne informed me that he was heading over to Anfield to see the ill-fated match against Chelsea.

When I told him that I leaned towards Manchester United he said, "Sure if I'd have known that I would never have done the feckin' interview."

The next great Irish fighter has arrived. You're going to like him.