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Bernard Dunne says he’s determined to prove he’s ready for a world title fight by beating Cristian “El Terrible” Faccio in style on this Saturday’s Hunky Dorys Fight Night at the Breaffy House Resort, Castlebar, Ireland.
After an intensive six week training camp in Belfast, Dunne is confident that he can produce a sparkling performance against the Uruguayan power puncher.
The Dubliner has been concentrating on his strength and conditioning ahead of this weekend’s bout having added specialist coach Mike McGurn to his training team. McGurn has a wealth of experience working with top class athletes on their strength and conditioning including a stint as the Irish Rugby team’s fitness coach.
“I’ve been working very hard with Mike McGurn and Fergus Connolly to improve my strength,” said Dunne. “That’s an area that we sat down as a team and decided we needed to work on. Mike has great experience from working with the Irish rugby team over the last few years and Fergus is currently working with the Welsh rugby team so they bring a lot to the table in terms of know how and experience.
“We’ve been working on developing explosive power while also improving my overall strength because that’s very important if you want to compete at world level. I’ve also done a lot of work with them in terms of my diet and reducing my body fat correctly. The important thing is to have lean muscle rather than bulking up, which would obviously affect my weight.
“I’ve still been working as hard as ever in the gym on my technique with Harry Hawkins but we felt it was important to introduce the strength and conditioning aspect as well and hopefully I’ll show all the benefits of that work on Saturday night.”
Dunne has had to contend with a late change of opponent after Faccio stepped in to replace original opponent Eduardo Garcia but he’s not perturbed by the switch.
“It’s not ideal but the good thing is that having watched a few of his fights Faccio is quite similar in style to Garcia. He’s aggressive and likes to come forward but that’s the kind of opponent I like anyway because you don’t have to go looking for them.”
The Dubliner’s manager, Brian Peters believes an impressive win on Saturday will leave his charge on the brink of a world title fight but for now Dunne is putting that to the back of his mind
“From day one my career has always been about getting a world title shot and I think we’re ready for that now. My confidence is back, I’m fully focused and I’ve no distractions. I’m 28 now so I know I need to step up to the mark and test myself against the big names at world level and hopefully 2009 will be all about that but for now the only thing I’m thinking about is beating Cristian Faccio and getting another win under my belt.
“All the talk about world title fights will mean nothing if I slip up on Saturday night and this guy has to be respected. He’s only just fought for the world title himself and is world rated, he’s mixed in some good company and there’s no doubt he can bang as well, his record proves that.”
One issue Dunne is happy to put to bed though is the prospect of fighting for his old European title against Rendall Munroe. “The Munroe fight isn’t going to happen any time soon. I certainly don’t believe he’s running scared or anything like that because Rendall’s a good fighter, I think it’s mainly business reasons why he won’t fight me. He said he wouldn’t come to Dublin to fight me but his next defence is going to be in Dublin against an Italian so that doesn’t really add up.”
Dunne’s scheduled ten round fight with Faccio headlines what promises to be an action packed Hunky Dorys Fight Night. Heading the supporting cast is local hero Henry “The Western Warrior” Coyle, who faces Birmingham’s Delroy “Sweet D” Mitchell in what will be Coyle’s first ever scheduled ten rounder.
Lurgan welterweight Stephen Haughian will be out for revenge when he goes up against Giamario Grassellini for the second time. The Italian inflicted the first defeat of Haughian’s pro career last December when he successfully defended his IBF Intercontinental title in Belfast courtesy of a split decision.
Also in action is Galway born welterweight prospect John O’Donnell, as he looks to continue his impressive recent form. Tyrone’s Damian Taggart also features alongside Irish – Canadian lightweight prospect Logan McGuinness while Brendan Ingle’s latest protégé, Steve Barnes makes his pro debut.
Tickets for the Hunky Dorys Fight Night are on sale from Ticketmaster (phone 0818 719 300 or visit ticketmaster.ie). Tickets are also available from Ticketmaster outlets nationwide.
