‘World Championships? I just said, why not, sure’

Dean Gardiner comes across as the kind of guy who greets triumph and disaster with much the same shrug of the shoulders.

That sense of equilibrium is no bad thing, given most men would have been left floored by the sort of twists and turns he has experienced in recent months.

The Clonmel super-heavyweight will be part of a five-strong Irish team at the World Championships, which start in Hamburg on Friday, his berth secured only after Britain’s Frazer Clarke was ruled out through injury early last month.