Dunne blow as hand injury means he misses big New York bout

Brendan Mooney

It happened in the first of his six-round bout against Mexico's Alejandro Ramirez at the Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson a fight he won on a points decision.

It was his 10th successive victory, but for the first time in his professional career, he was taken the distance and also ended up on the canvas for the first time in his life.

"But the kid is OK and that's the main thing," manager Brian Peters said yesterday. "He is having his right hand x-rayed later today but I know it is pretty bad. There is a lot of bruising and it was pretty swollen.

"My reading of it is that the December 6 fight is off and he probably won't box before he comes home for his wedding in January. It is disappointing as he was eager to box before the huge Irish fan club in New York but there will be other days."

Mr Peters described the knockdown as a very important part of the learning experience. In the first round he caught Ramirez with a big right hand but as he was coming back with the left hook the lights went out momentarily. "Bernard did not see the left hook coming and it caught him right on the button," Peters recalled.

"It was a good shot and he took it square on. This was the first time in his life he was knocked down and he handled it very well.

"The fact that he hurt his right hand in the first round meant that he could not finish off the combinations. He obviously used it at times and this caused further damage during the fight.

"But Sugar Ray (Leonard) was pretty philosophical. He pointed out that it was better that it should happen to him now rather than further down the road when there will be much more at stake."

While the legendary Freddie Roach trains the Dublin featherweight these days, his old coach back home, Peter Perry follows his career closely.

"The fact that he could take a shot like that and get up and beat his man speaks for itself," he said. "I don't ever remember him being in trouble, never mind being knocked down."

He predicted that he will be a world champion just as long as he remains with this management and they continue to look after his interests.

"I think Ritchie Foster was the best boxer to go over to the US. But they took him to the top and then knocked him off the ladder. This will not happen to Bernard. I think the people he has around him now will make sure of that. "When you are going in against an opponent you have to know how he lives, how he eats, what he eats. You need to know everything. They will look after all that."

He rates Dunne ahead of the former world bantamweight champion, Wayne McCullough, who he claims did not have a big enough punch.

"I had Bernard in the gym and he could punch. I had a pad on the wall and he hammered that for hours." Bernard came from a generation that thrived on boxing and he feels that it takes that to mould a champion.

"Nowadays they are spending a lot of money on Irish teams.

"They have four coaches, they train but they seldom box and that is a mistake," he added.