Veteran Perry backs former charge Dunne to defy odds
The sprightly 83-year-old, who has turned out a galaxy of stars at the CIE club on Granite Terrace during 61 years in boxing, will be ringside for what he terms the greatest moment of his life.
“It’s a hard call,” he said. “Believe me this is going to be a tough fight. But it is a fight that Bernard can win if his head is right and I am sure it will be because he has an excellent team around him. Harry Hawkins is sure to have him right on the night. He is an excellent trainer and he has worked wonders with Bernard.”
Peter had Bernard under his supervision from the time his father, Brendan who boxed for Ireland at the Montreal Olympics, took him around to the CIE boxing club as a five year-old.
“I had him up to the time he turned professional and during that period he never lost a fight in Ireland and went on to win three Irish senior titles,” he recalled. “He was never a huge puncher but that boy had class. He had skill, he could throw punches from every area, his head movement, his shoulder movement and his foot movement was just dazzling. He was almost impossible to hit. I know he is up against it with the Panamanian because any boxer who ever came out of Panama was good. The fact that Cordoba is a southpaw makes it even more difficult.
“Having said that I think Bernard can win this one. He has all the credentials. During my time with him if he had one failing it was the fact that he did not always listen to his corner — sometimes he would go out and do his own thing.
“But you must listen to the corner. They are the ones who are looking at the fight. They can see the things you don’t so you must listen to what they are telling you in between the rounds.
“I always knew Bernard was destined for great things but I never thought I would see him fighting for a world title in Dublin. Brendan (his father) came around with my ticket yesterday and I am really looking forward to it.”
Ray Moylette, Ireland’s first ever world junior gold medallist, could not believe his luck when he got the opportunity to box on the undercard.
“The O2 is a big step up from where I am usually fighting,” the Westport teenager admitted. “It’s the Croke Park of boxing. There are busloads coming up from Mayo for the fight.”
Moylette comes from a Mayo family that is steeped in boxing tradition but he admitted that few people predicted he would come from Mexico with a gold medal from the world youths (formerly junior) championships.
“The world youths championships was the experience of a lifetime,” he said. “I still can’t believe that I came away from those championships as the best boxer in the world in my weight division.
“I was probably in the best situation I could have been in. There was absolutely no pressure on me going out there. Nobody expected me to win a gold medal. I went out there to box to the best of my ability and that’s what I did. Fortunately, at the end of the day, it was good enough to win the gold medal. London 2012 is my goal now. I am on the senior High Performance team now — the Development Squad — for those Games.
“I was up in Belfast training with the senior elite squad last week and it was a bit of a rude awakening.
“I was thrown straight into the deep end with the tough training that I would not be used to but I am getting the hang of it.
“We had early morning starts — I began to realise that there were two 5 o’clocks in the day — pity I wasn’t up for the second one. I was only up for the first one and then I was back in bed in the evening. We got up before 5am, had a weigh-in and then went running up a mountain to watch the sunrise.
“I get extra funding from the Irish Sports Council this year — I am on International Funding which is great. That encourages you to put in the effort and to build it up again.”
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