Irish big guns didn’t step up in Baku, says Dunne

BERNARD DUNNE yesterday described the Irish team’s performance at the recent World Championships in Baku as a disappointment but believes the Irish boxing team should still claim more medals in London than in Beijing.

The team consisted of five boxers in 2008 and delivered in style. Kenny Egan returned home with a silver medal and he was accompanied by Darren Sutherland and Paddy Barnes, both of whom earned bronze.

It was a sensational performance from a sport that has long been in the vanguard when it comes to claiming Olympic success in this country and it says everything about those standards that Dunne could express such a view on the displays in Azerbaijan.