Munroe eager for Dunne match-up

Rendall Munroe has rubbished suggestions that he is avoiding putting his European super-bantamweight belt on the line against former champion Bernard Dunne.

Dunne's promoter Brian Peters said recently that Munroe is 'ducking' the Dubliner and Dunne, who lost the title to current EBU mandatory challenger Kiko Martinez in August of last year, has also been publicly calling out the champion.

But Munroe, following his fifth round stoppage of Italian Fabrizio Trotta last night, insisted that he would relish taking on Dunne.

"I don't avoid anyone. I ain't going to disrespect the guy - Dunne's a good boxer - but do I really look like the type of guy who's going to have trouble with someone like that?," the Leicester binman said.

"I'll get in there. I ain't fussed. If they say I've got to fight someone in Thailand, I'll go out there because no one can come back and say Rendall was good but he avoided this man.

"Personally, I want to be one of these lads who people can turn around and say 'he never avoided anyone. He was the best because he boxed everyone.'

"I'm going back to work on Tuesday and I'll be back in the gym on Wednesday, training again. If they say to me 'you're fighting next week', come let's go...we're fighting."

Munroe is set to take on powerful Spaniard Martinez at an English venue in February but his promoter Frank Maloney, who has been involved in a war of words with Peters, said that that fight may not go ahead if a clash with Dunne can be agreed on.

"If we can do the Dunne fight before that - sit down and discuss it and get Martinez to step aside - we'd be happy to come here (to Dublin) in March and do a big show here with Rendall fighting Dunne," Maloney admitted.

"Being truthful, Brian Peters wanted the fight in Dublin for himself.

He's not the champion anymore. When he was the champion, we phoned him up and offered to come as a challenger - they turned it down.

"Now we're the champion, we call the shots and that's exactly what will happen.

"I believe the Dunne fight should take place. I think it would be one of the biggest grossing European title fights that's happened.

"I believe, on what I've seen, we would get 15,000-plus to see Dunne and Rendall or me and Brian Peters in the same ring!"

Since being shocked by Martinez, Dunne has resumed 'normal service' with wins over Felix Machado, Damian David Marchiano and Cristian Faccio.

Peters recently stated that Dunne's main priority for 2009 remains 'a world title fight' but Maloney reckons that his Irish rivals are aiming too high.

"We're realistic, we know Rendall needs a couple more fights before a world title. We're not really talking world title fights at the moment.

"His trainer Jason (Shinfield) said to me we need a few couple of good fights and on our radar is Bernard Dunne.

"But I mean Bernard Dunne's team are talking about a world title fight now. They couldn't even beat the second best fighter in Europe, so how can they talk about a world title fight?"