Bernard Dunne - WBA Super Bantamweight Champion

Ireland's Bernard Dunne shocked the world on Saturday, March 21st by claiming the WBA super bantamweight title in an all out war with Panamanian Ricardo Cordoba.
Few gave Dunne a chance against the classy 24 year old who came into the bout with an impressive 34-1-2 record.
After the Spaniard Kiko Martinez had dispatched Dunne in the 1st round of a European title defense in 2007, many people simply wrote off the talented Dubliner. Those who had once sung Dunne's praises for his comprehensive beat down of a former European, British and Commonwealth champion, Esham Pickering, in November 2006 when he won the EBU title, were now the very people slating him.
I am happy to say that I am one of the fans who never lost faith in Bernard or his undeniable talent. Yeah sure he had been obliterated in a mere 86 seconds by the big punching Martinez, and yes there were questions about his punch resistance, but a guy who claimed 13 Irish titles as an amateur, spent 3 years under the tutelage of the legendary Freddie Roach in The Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, holding his own in sparring with the likes of Israel Vasquez,Shane Mosley, and Manny Pacquiao, and then comes back to Ireland to revitalise the dormant boxing scene, should not have been discarded so easily and by so many.
I have long held the view that Bernard Dunne was the most exciting and naturally talented boxer this country has ever produced and on Saturday night in a packed O2 Arena, he proved me right.
In a fight that had both fighters on the canvas more than once, both cut, and dramatic momentum shifts, Dunne took all the punishment the younger man could dish out and came back stronger to claim victory.
Dunne showed unbelievable improvements in power, stamina and punch resistance. The skill has always been there but Dunne took it to another level and he was more than a match for Cordoba throughout the fight.
What was most impressive about Dunne's performance was his patience and control in the 11th round when both fighters looked like their tanks were almost empty, Dunne caught Cordoba with a lovely left hook that had a delayed effect on the champion, Cordoba, who had been ground down with consistent assaults from the new and improved Dunne left hooks and right hands, simply could not take any more punishment and appeared to be out on his feet. Dunne pounced on Cordoba, dropping him twice. When Cordoba got up a third time and with the clock ticking away to the end of the round, Dunne showed supreme class as he picked his shots beautifully, finishing off his opponent with a fantastic uppercut.
The scorecards after the 11th round turned out to be all favouring Cordoba by unbelievable margins, the apparently short sighted judges scored the contest, 95-92, 96-91, and 97-90! Now you could maybe make a case for the first score but the other judges were either watching a different fight or the WBA's links with Panama were influencing the judging.
In the end, the underdog status, the doubters in the press and on the streets, and even the ridiculous blind judges, would not deny Bernard Dunne his destiny to be the super bantamweight champion of the world.
I can only hope that this new found form will be repeated in his title defenses, and that the complacency that was perhaps the undoing of Dunne in the Kiko Martinez fight, does not reappear. It is apparent that Dunne has learned and matured a lot as a boxer and a person over the last few years, and I have a sneaking suspicion that we have not seen the best yet from our world champ!

What The Fans Are Saying
Here are a few of the comments from around the web from fans paying tribute to what is already been called a possible "Fight of the Year" candidate.

"Some people may think I have been looking through rose tinted "Dunne" glasses for far too long but words can not describe how PROUD I am of our Ben, he is my hero, he was before this fight but what he has done last night just brings many many more of the disbelievers to the table and there have been many.

I have been cheering him on from the sidelines from his very first fight on the 19th of December 2001 (wow is it that long ago), this was of course back in the days when any sort of coverage of irish boxing was well pretty much non existent and many a night i spent going to bed with the mobile tucked under the pillow waiting for the all important text at some ungodly hour of the morning and then saying a little prayer before actually mustering up the nerve to go and read it. I can vividly remember the day (probably about 5 fights into his career) when he made teletext and actually having a little smirk to myself, sounds really silly but this was irish boxing in 2002, a minority sport in all its hidden glory. From there it was a gradual build up and when he signed with Sugar Ray Leonard Promotions the media started to take a passing interest, from there really the rest is pretty much well documented. I always hoped and prayed that he would fulfill his destiny, the path from a very early stage pointed in one direction and I dearly hoped & believed that he would see it through to the bitter end, sometimes when you reflected on where things were going you might doubt for a split second what your heart was telling you but I always held belief for without belief you have nothing.

I was gutted with what happened in the Martinez encounter and it took a long time to accept what happened but I never stopped believeing for a second that the journey was nearing an end but merely taking a different direction and held firm on the mantra that "if it doesnt kill you it will make you stronger". What really disappointed me was how so many people turned their backs on him and how some people dragged his name into the gutter (and there were many!!!) but all this served to do was to copper fasten his determination to achieve what many people taught was an impossible task, they simply stopped believeing.

Last night was a night that will stay with me to my grave, I went through every emotion know to man, from initial hope to extreme trepidation then in a matter of minutes you taste this hope crystalising into confidence that he will actually deliver on his destiny only to have it ripped from your very taughts as quickly as you could visualising his hand being raised in victory. A rollercoaster of emotions and far too much for me personally to comprehend in the highs and lows of what was a fascinating contest. It was nerve wracking in the extreme and I am still trying to understand if I actually enjoyed it as I still havent come down from the euphoria. To a man there were 9,000 people who stood shoulder to shoulder in that arena and regardless of what was said and spoken of before hand, after the first few exchanges there was a tangible auora within those hollowed walls which took hold of everybody. He said he would go to the gates of hell to deliver on his destiny and he left absolutely nothing behind. Last night was one of those moments in life which you park in the memory bank, in a lifetime you might have only a small handful of moments in your life which you truly regard as special. I was so caught up with emotion that I actually unashamedly burst out crying, I dont know why but I know I wasnt alone. I am a proud irishman at the best of times but last night I was especially proud to be born of this land and i was so proud of our kid, nobody deserved it more than him. More than anything else I am so happy for him, he has etched his name in the history of our spoting greats. Thanks for the journey it has been truly something special.

By the way the bookies repaid this "belief" i held in spades, i pulled a couple of grand out of their coffers at a hefty price of 16-1 (yep one of the mad fuckers who actually taught he could win by KO), delighted with that also but its of minor significance in the bigger scheme of things"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"He is an unbelievable technical fighter, what a fairytale ending, something you'd see from the Rocky movies.. absolutley magnificent from Dunne, he will go down as an Irish boxing legend and well deserves to after last night."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bernard is a great Irishman. He also showed great sportsmansip at the end to make sure Cordoba was ok. All the abuse he got from armchair boxing "fans" after the Kiko Martinez fight was disgraceful. But like a true champion he had the last laugh and kept believing and put on one the great performances of any Irish boxer last night. Round 5 was insane. Only Wayne M or Steve Collins could take that punishment. Thanks so much Bernard. And this is a WBA title you won!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This fight was tremendous.A real classic bout. I'm not irish( I'm from Newfoundland....made of the same stuff!)but I was overwhelmed with pride for Ireland. My Dad died this past Dec. and he loved a great fight. I wish he had to see this one. Dunne is the type of fighter that he loved. A heart the size of Ireland. I somehow knew that this kid was not gonna lose...AWESOME. STAND PROUD IRELAND.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It would take another Gatti-Ward style fight to beat that as Fight of the Year, unreal stuff from both boxers and what a World Title fight should be like! The Munroe fans who were slagging Dunne before the fight seem to be after losing their internet connections, very hush hush altogether..

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read Fightwriter, Graham Houston's take on Dunne V Cordoba

Fightwriter Preview

Fightwriter Review

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fight Facts

Bernard Dunne's victory over Ricardo Cordoba came to a shock to a lot of people, not least the bookies who had Dunne at 100/1 to win in the 11th round!

Before this fight Dunne had went 12 rounds only twice in his career, Cordoba had been involved in 4 world championship fights and had been the full 12 rounds 7 times before. Despite this gulf in experience and the fact that Cordoba is the younger man, Dunne had the better stamina throughout the fight.

Cordoba had never been stopped before Dunne KO'd him in the 11th round, and had only been put down 3 times in 37 fights.


Both fighters were saved by the bell in this epic battle. Cordoba was close to being stopped when Dunne sent him stumbling backwards across the ring with a perfectly timed left hook, Dunne quickly chased down his foe but with just 13 seconds to go in the round Cordoba held on till the bell rescued him.

In the 5th round Dunne was dropped twice by a barrage of punches from the Panamanian, despite beating the count and trying to hold on, Cordoba soon had him on the ropes and let loose with a two fisted attack of swinging shots. Although it looked as if all these shots were getting through, on closer inspection, Dunne held his guard high and so took a lot of shots on the arms. A split second after the bell sounded,the referee stepped in, almost taking a right hand from Dunne in the process!


---------------------------------------------------------------------

What Next For Dunne?

Since the historic win, Dunne has been called out by Celestino Caballero, the WBA super champion, who is vowing revenge for his fellow Panamanian, Ricardo Cordoba.

Former WBO super bantamweight champion and friend of Bernard's, Wayne McCullough posted an open letter to Dunne, asking that he accept a fight, with or without the title on the line.

Brian Peters, Dunne's manager, has mentioned a possible fight with Israel Vasquez, who is regarded as the best super bantamweight in the devision. This would be an interesting match up as Dunne used to spar with Vazquez in Freddie Roaches Gym in Los Angeles.

Another prospect would be Kiko Martinez. The Spaniard who is the only blemish on Dunne's record would be an exciting match up, and a chance for Dunne to avenge his sole loss. You will always have a few who maintain that Dunne needs to beat the guy who stopped him in 86 seconds but in my opinion, Dunne has already vindicated himself and then some with his spectacular performance against Cordoba.


The Thai boxer Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym, England's Rendall Munroe, and the Canadian, Oliver Lontchi are also possible opponents for Dunne.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To summarize, Bernard Dunne did what a lot of people thought was a near impossibilty. In the space of 18 months, he has used the shock loss of his European title to improve almost every aspect of his fight game, and has come back with the win of his career over a world rated, highly regarded boxer, to claim what was his destiny, the WBA world championship belt.

Bernard Dunne said in his post fight interview, "If there is one comment I could make, that comment was believe, and I believed that I could win this world title".
On behalf of all your fans, "Bernard, we believe"!