BOXING: Dunne wants a Dublin roar
Bernard Dunne believes the X factor of his vociferous supporters will help drive him to a second successful European super-bantamweight title defence in Dublin.
Saturday, 23 June 2007
Dunne puts his belt on the line tonight against Norway`s Reidar Walstad knowing the weight of expectation from his adoring fans.
"The fans are the people who make you and they want to be entertained," he said.
"They`ve been amazing for me and I`ve no doubt they play a part in me winning because the other guy must wonder what he has walked into.
"And Walstad can expect the same. The atmosphere is amazing and then of course he has me to deal with.
"The fans really drive me on and when I look back at the DVD I think I would love to be at an event like that, I would love to be in that kind of atmosphere as a fan, never mind as a fighter."
Walstad is adamant that he can secure a double over Dunne as he defeated the Irish man in the 1997 European amateur championships in Belarus.
Walstad said: "The fact that I have already beaten Bernard gives me great confidence that I will do it again.
"I know that we are both professionals now but for me Bernard still fights the same way as he did back then. I`ve watched a lot of his fights and I don`t see much difference.
"He still makes the same mistakes and I will take advantage of those.
"There is going to be another Viking invasion in June and I know the European title is coming back to Norway.
"This is the title I want, for me the European title is more important to me than winning a world title because there is only one European title but there are many versions of the world title."
Dunne feels he has the speed and the class to turn back the challenge of Walstad before moving on to his mandatory title defence with Spain`s Kiko Martinez.
He said:"I want to deal with this guy and then look ahead to Martinez who is the big threat on the European scene because he`s unbeaten and has a great knockout record.
"That`s going to be a huge fight for me. I just have to stay focused and do my thing and I know that whatever this guy has I`ll have an answer.
"He says that he has moved on since 1997 but I don`t think he has, he`s still quite defensive but if he wants to win he`s going to have to come to me and that will suit me."
u.tv © UTV News