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The O2 in Dublin, Ireland hosts a big occasion later today when local hero Bernard Dunne meets Thailand’s Poonsawat Kratindaenggym.
On offer will be Dunne’s WBA super bantam crown, won six months ago in the very same venue against Panama’s Ricardo Cordoba in a major upset.
Can Dunne, 28-1 (15), turn the trick again and send another more experienced operator home from Dublin empty-handed?
It’ll be a tough assignment.
The 28 year old from Sakon Nakhon won the PABA bantam belt in just his fourth pro contest and kept it over 17 defenses against mostly obscure competition until an Interim WBA title shot came up in 2005.
Kratindaenggym shocked the previously undefeated Cordoba via hard fought split decision in Bangkok and retained the interim strap against a faded 42 year old Leo Gamez later that year before stepping up to the big time.
To do that, Kratindaenggym had to travel to Hamburg, Germany to challenge WBA champion Wladimir Sidorenko in 2006 and lost a bitterly contested UD on points to the volume punching Ukrainian.
Since then the Thai fighter has won 14 straight but against less than stellar opposition during 11 PABA super bantam title defenses.
Kratindaenggym does have two better quality wins over that time period, a WBA title eliminator against Somsak Sithchatchawal a year ago and an Interim WBA title win against big-punching prospect Rafael Hernandez in April.
Still not top level victories but the Thai will bring with him to Dublin the single most important attribute in boxing: confidence.
38 wins against one tough loss in a world champion’s back yard can lead to lot of that and Kratindaenggym has proclaimed his invincibility ever since he arrived in Ireland to the support of the Thai community of Dublin last week.
But to topple Dunne, the challenger will be facing his best opponent since Sidorenko and the very short
Kratindaenggym will also see a significant height disadvantage.
Dunne will have to guard against expending his energy too soon in what could be an emotional first defense, particularly if Kratindaenggym is able to exert a lot of pressure on the hometown man in the early rounds.
If Dunne can keep the challenger at the end of his longer reach and control the pace of the action, he should cruise to a decision victory but if Kratindaenggym can make it a draining, close quarters war, it will be to his advantage and we could see an upset at the O2.
