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.

John Joe Nevin won a bronze medal in the bantamweight division and will be joined at next year’s Games by flyweight Michael Conlon and middleweight Darren O’Neill thanks to their performances in Azerbaijan.

That was exactly in keeping with coach Billy Walsh’s target of three qualifiers and a medal but strongly-fancied fighters like Paddy Barnes and Joe Ward fell short, and now turn their attention to the final European qualifier, due to be held in Istanbul next April.

“Okay, we reached our targets,” said Dunne who was promoting Forza Motorsport 4 game for the Xbox 360.

“Billy had said he wanted three qualified and a medal and that’s exactly what he got but if you look at our big names, our big guns, our main performers — the guys you can usually rely on when they go away — they didn’t step up to the plate. That shocked me.”

Yet Dunne believes another three male boxers can still make the Olympics, as well as Katie Taylor, who will be expected to confirm her participation when she competes at the one and only women’s qualifier in China next May.

After that, the focus will turn to the pursuit of medals and Dunne believes Ireland can profit in the ring yet again. When asked what would constitute a good haul, he replied: “Three medals. And Katie.”

That said, the competition at European, World and Olympic levels is fierce in boxing and the chances of success can be hindered or helped to a huge degree by the vagaries of the draw in each weight division.

“That’s why I think our boxing team is the best team we have in the country at the moment. You can forget about rugby and soccer. Boxing is number one because if you go away to the boxing world championships, anyone can win.

“You go away to rugby and realistically there are only four teams that can win and everyone knows that going in. Joe Ward getting beaten by an Iranian [in Baku] is a case in point. I think our boxing team is our number one team.”