Dunne ready to open Odessa File in Dublin

BERNARD DUNNE just can’t wait for Saturday night’s version of the Odessa File when he touches gloves with Ukrainian southpaw Yuri Voronin at the National Stadium.

Voronin, who was born in Odessa, has boxed in his home city three times and stopped his opponent each time.

His longest appearance in the ring there was just over 12 months ago when he beat Alexander Antonov in eight rounds for the vacant Ukrainian featherweight title.

Dunne, six years his junior, also has an unbeaten record in his home town, both as an amateur and a professional, and that’s a record he cherishes.

“Voronin is going to be a stronger opponent than Jim Betts,” he said.

“He is ranked seventh in Europe, has only lost three of 27 fights and he is a southpaw. I would not go so far as to say he is the strongest opponent I have met. I have boxed some really good fighters back in the States. Adrian Valdez was a very good fighter. But I give every opponent respect.

“I have spent the last three weeks in Belfast working with southpaws and things have gone really well. Right now I am looking forward to the fight.”

The 25-year-old Dubliner will be going for his 16th straight professional win with an eye on a possible European title shot as soon as Nicky Cook decides what he is going to do.

“The European title would be an obvious target,” his manager and promoter, Brian Peters, admitted.

“But we have some business to take care of in the meantime. Saturday night’s fight is going to be another thriller. It is a big step up from Jim Betts.”

Peters is more patient than Dunne but he has another couple of big shows planned for Ireland this year.

“We have Paul Griffin, the Hyland Brothers, Michael Kelly, and John Duddy needs to fight over here,” he said. “We now have a platform for our Irish boxers. For the first time in 19 years, RTÉ are giving us live television and that is a huge plus.”

RTÉ are thrilled with the response. When they screened the homecoming on February 19, the audience peaked at 182,000 for Dunne’s fight and that compares very favourably with sports events like the Heineken Cup quarter-final between Leinster and Leicester at Lansdowne Road which attracted an audience in the region of 164,000.

Head of RTÉ Sport Glen Killane said: “It went out at 10.45pm, near the end of peak viewing time. I would have been happy with a percentage share in double figures. I would say 10% would have justified us being interested.”