Three strikes and out for Dunne

A TEXT-BOOK left hook perfectly placed on the point of the chin signalled the end of Bernard Dunne’s six-month reign as WBA world super bantamweight champion and transferred the belt to Thailand thunderball, Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym, before a stunned sell-out crowd at the O2 in Dublin’s Docklands on Saturday night.

The punch did not end the fight, but it sent the champion on the first of three visits to the canvas before the French referee, Jean Louis Legland, called the inevitable ceasefire.

That came with a mere three seconds remaining in round three of what was the Dubliner’s first defence of the title he snatched from Panamanian southpaw, Ricardo Cordoba, last March.

The punch was a huge blow, not just for Bernard Dunne, but for an Irish boxing community reeling from the tragic death of Darren Sutherland less than two weeks ago.

Up to that point in the fight the atmosphere was similar to the March thriller – spine-chilling stuff that even the ice-cool Poonsawat admitted he found unnerving – and the fans were getting over the odds for their money.

Dunne, at his brilliant best, kept the challenger at bay with a sharp and deadly accurate left jab that won him the first two rounds.

In the final minute of the second round Poonsawat began to made headway, getting inside Dunne’s longer reach to land some big shots to the body and force the champion to fight his way out of trouble.

“When I got into the ring I was kind of worried because the fans were screaming and cheering for Dunne,” Poonsawat said.

“In the first and second round I was trying to get to know what he was like – how he punches and his style. After the second round it was okay I knew I could beat Dunne – I just had to push harder and harder and harder.”

And he did just that at the start of the third, fighting his way inside, cutting Dunne off, pushing him back and trying to pin him against the ropes and leaving the champion with no option but to fight his way out of trouble – getting into a situation which he said all week he wanted to avoid.

The Thai’s confidence was growing, and though it appeared as if Dunne had weathered the storm, Poonsawat dispatched the big left hook to the head that brought the world down around him. He was already on his way to the canvas when the Thai caught him with a follow-up right to the head.

Dunne did well to drag himself up but it was obvious he was on autopilot. He tried to push Poonsawat back and tie him up but there were signs of fatigue. He took the wrong option and tried to fight his way out of the predicament, but it played right into Poonsawat’s hands. A couple of big shots fell short before he caught Dunne on the chin with another peach of a left and he went down, face first.

It seemed like an age before Dunne pushed himself off the canvas and turned to referee to try and reassure him that he was okay. But Poonsawat pounced for the kill with a big left to the head, remarkably Dunne stayed on his feet but he caught him with a sharp right and Dunne crumpled to the canvas for a third time.

Under WBA rules, he referee was now left with no option but to end the hostilities on the three-knockdown rule, three minutes and 57 seconds into the third round.

“I did not expect it to be over so quickly,” admitted Poonsawat who had been predicting a seventh-round victory all week. “I expected maybe six-seven, maybe eight-nine rounds. I just wanted to do my best for all rounds. I did not know if I had hurt him. I just kept throwing punches.”

The 9,000 fans who had cheered Dunne into the ring were stunned into silence on what was an emotional and highly charged night. Earlier they watched a short film depicting the late Sutherland’s life, which they applauded for a whole minute. They celebrated Matthew Macklin’s European title win the previous night. Now they did not know what to do.

“There are so many people who have made so many sacrifices,” Dunne said. “It is a tough time for the Irish people and especially for the Irish boxing people with the passing of Darren. I and the Irish people in general wanted so badly this week to lift the mood and give people a bit of joy.

“I knew what to expect from Poonsawat. I knew he was going to be aggressive early. I allowed myself to be lured into a fight and I should not have done that. It is my own stupid fault.

“I have no complaints. Everything went right for this fight. I was in great condition. Physically I was ready. Everybody looked after me so well this week – my coaches, my family, even the people in the hotel have put up with my little idiosyncrasies this week.

“We’ve been down before and we have come back and won a world title. It is going to take a long time to get over this but I will get over it and I will come back fighting.”