Underdog Dunne determined to go to ‘hell and back’

BERNARD DUNNE admits he will be the underdog but he insisted yesterday he is prepared to go to the gates of hell and back if that’s what it takes to strip Ricardo Cordoba of his WBA world super bantamweight title at Dublin’s O2 on March 21.

Yesterday the former European champion made the trip from his Belfast training camp to the familiar surroundings of the National Stadium.

“All I’m thinking about is getting into that ring and doing what I do best,” he said. “It is all positive thinking — we are going out to win this fight — whether we are going to have to out box this guy or whether we are going to have to outwork him, I am willing to push myself to the gates of hell if that’s what it takes. And that’s all I can do. If this guy’s better on the night, he is better on the night.”

The underdog tag has freed him from a lot of the pressure of his previous fights.

“I’m the one with everything to gain,” he said. “Maybe against Esham (Pickering) people would have said it was 50/50 or maybe 60/40 against Kiko (Martinez) but this time around I am definitely the underdog and that’s taken a lot of pressure off me.

“I don’t have people coming up and asking me ‘what round are you going to knock him out, what round are we going to bet on?’ Instead you have people coming up saying ‘look Bernard, stay focused, do what you have to do, this is your big chance’ and that’s the way I am looking at it — this is my big chance.”

Over the past 10 weeks, he has pushed himself to the limit of his physical endurance — and then some. He has visited heights and depths that he never dreamed possible.

“When this fight is over and I look back I will know that I have trained harder than I have ever trained before in my life. I can say that I gave myself every possible chance.”

The secret weapon could prove to be one of his sparring partners, William Gonzales, who has fought Cordoba in the past.

“He is actually a fantastic talent himself,” Dunne insisted. “He just boxed for the world title in his last fight and was beaten on a split decision. He is a tall southpaw and good mover but he is a good talker as well.

“After sessions we sit down in the gym with an interpreter and he tells us what he thought of each session — how we have improved and how the things we need to do to improve some more. The little pointers are important especially because he has first hand knowledge of Cordoba.

“He thinks I need to put Cordoba under a lot more pressure than he did. He felt that he might have tried to box too much with him.”

Dunne feels that he is at the right age to challenge for a world championship pointing out that he has experience on his side.

“I feel it is the right stage in my career for this fight,” he said. “At 24 would I have been ready? I don’t think so. I feel now I am physically and mentally ready. Now is the right time for me to fight for this title. It is something I have planned to do all my life but to get it in my home town, in front of my home fans — well I could not ask for a better opportunity.

“People say he (Cordoba) has struggled away from home but he has had two draws in Germany against home fighters which tells a lot in itself and he had a controversial defeat in Thailand so I tend not to write too much into it.

“But maybe it plays on his mind a little bit and that’s a good thing. Has he ever walked into an atmosphere like he is going to walk into in the O2 — I am sure on the 21st that place is going to be nuts!”