Ringside Boxing Report: Bernard Dunne vs. Felix Machado

As one of the appetisers on last weekend’s delicious menu of title fights, a fine domestic card was presented by Brian Peter’s promotions in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, deep in the West of Ireland. With a fine selection of local fighters on show and a host of international opposition, the arena filled early and a warm atmosphere sparked in anticipation of the evening’s event.

The Breaffy House International Sports Hotel and Resort played host to the festivities. It was an appropriate venue, often employed by Ireland’s best athletes as part of their mental preparation for high level competition, the bill’s headliner Bernard Dunne was in need of some psychological repair following the assassination of his reputation, public persona and ego last year, at the hands of the malicious Spaniard Kiko Martinez.

In his return to the ring, Dunne was opposed by Felix Machado, a former super flyweight title holder and a highly experienced campaigner. Super bantamweight Bernard Dunne had once again captured the attention of the Irish public and was coming to the West of Ireland to attempt to prove a point.

Brian Peters was visible by the ring prior to the events initiation, chatting to the patrons and surveying the arena for any potential details which needed attention. However, the beautifully prepared arena needed little more organisation.

The fighters in turn were preparing with an equal level of concentration, Adnan Amar readied himself in the dressing rooms with his trainer Brendan Ingle, Michael Sweeney smiled and chatted with his training team, Artus Jashkul nodded his head in time with the music pumping through his headphones and later Bernard Dunne paced between the dressing rooms and the arena‘s entrance. Other fighters meandered through the meticulously organised rows of chairs, many in an almost meditative state, mentally preparing to enter into hostilities later in the evening.

As Machado entered the ring, the initial jeering he received was dissuaded by a polite round of applause from the majority of the audience. With a broad smile on his face and energy pulsating through his limbs, it was evident that Machado had been in this situation before and he was comfortable with his role as the away fighter and underdog.

He appeared to be in shape, with a well toned physique and little fat evident. Upon Dunne’s entrance, the smile faltered and he adopted a more serious demeanour. The rapturous applause and encouragement which heralded Dunne’s arrival stood testament to his unfaltering popularity. Springing into the ring lithely, his support was unquestionable and the crowd was at it’s feet.

With the anthems and referee’s instructions administered, the arena boiled in anticipation of the first round’s opening bell. Dunne looked serious in his corner, Machado loose and ready. As both fighters sprang from their corners, Dunne was obviously the naturally bigger man, although equal in height, Dunne was visibly broader in the shoulders and chest.

In the first round he attempted to exploit this advantage, countering Machado’s loose jab and proving that he was indeed the stronger man, forcing Machado to alter his stance with a number of right counters. Machado established his jab early, seemingly hoping to keep the Dubliner at a distance, but sacrificing the first round in doing so. Machado attempted to employ a sweeping, wide left uppercut, but Dunne evaded it well, hanging back from the Venezuelan’s swings and then returning fire.

In the second, Dunne was seen to complain to the referee as Machado used his superior experience to rough up Dunne while at close quarters. At this early stage, their heads drew close, Machado was the first to suffer the consequences with a cut opening above his right eye in the third. Blood would continue to ebb from this wound for the remainder of the fight and Dunne attempted to exploit it with his hook.

Although Dunne mounted a focused assault on this cut in the fourth, he seemed to drop his pace slightly and one wondered whether his time away from the ring had resulted in some stamina issues. In the middle rounds, he altered his approach, adopting a conventional style lacking the flamboyant flourishes which traditionally accompany his work.

In contrast, Machado altered nothing, he persisted with the long southpaw jab and attempted to follow with the cross and his wide uppercut. His insistence on employing these techniques was rewarded in the middle rounds, as he landed with more frequency, although many of the ringside observer felt this was primarily due to Dunne’s defensive problems rather than any exceptional attack launched by Machado.

The sixth round was eventful for a number of reasons; Dunne, appearing a little tired and frustrated, was cut severely above his right eye and Machado began to land the jab more accurately. The fighters rarely held on the inside, instead opting to compete in a battle of physicality. Dunne’s chest, shoulders and biceps displayed the battle scars, grazing and marking up badly.

The seventh round saw Machado land a triplet of jabs and a fourth jab before Dunne responded. Machado, at 36 years of age, fought comfortably at the high pace, seemingly unfazed by the efforts of the younger Irishman‘s exertions. The one factor playing against Machado was the cut he had received earlier and at times his vision was impaired by the continuous trickle of blood from over his right eye.

This resulted in some plundering successes for Dunne in the eighth and ninth rounds. These rounds were scrappy; on the outside, Machado attempted to prevent Dunne scoring, but the Dubliner, attempting to seal a convincing victory, raised his output and re-introduced his more impressive arsenal. However, these rounds often degenerated to gritty battles on the inside, both men expending a lot of energy in trading shots and attempting to force the other onto the backfoot.

Dunne’s advantage in strength and speed secure him these rounds and much to the crowd’s delight, he arose from his corner in the tenth with intent. However, as it transpired, it was this round in which I truly came to understand Machado’s moniker of “El Macho.”

Taking some punishing shots from Dunne and having many of his better shots countered, Machado extended Dunne until the final bell. In a bloody, entertaining affair, Machado gave Dunne all that he could handle and although he could not compensate for the work Dunne invested in the early rounds, he did look more convincing in the heart of the fight.

The judges awarded Dunne each round and although I disagree with that decision, Dunne did win the fight. Afterward, Dunne expressed his disappointment with his performance and enthused that he would be more convincing in future fights.

He had been truly tested by the awkward style of Machado. The fight had been disappointing from a Dunne perspective. The scoring may have failed to demonstrate the battle that Machado had offered, but Dunne’s face and abdomen told the story. From a neutral perspective, it had been quite a pleasing spectacle, the fighters touched gloves regularly, both demonstrated some good professional boxing and both were eager to entertain.

The fight was supported by a fertile undercard. In the evening’s opener, Adnan Amar of Sheffield, England, replaced John O’Donnell at the last minute to take on Artus Jashkul. Amar, trained by the famed Brendan Ingle, came in well prepared despite the short notice and used the puzzling style bred by Ingle to frustrate the workman like Jashkul. Amar stopped Jashkul in the final round of their six round welterweight contest and despite the loud protests of Jashkul’s corner, he emerged an impressive victor.

Polish Middleweight Gzegorz Proska added to his record of 13-0-0 with a win over Jairo Alvarez. In reporting on this fight, I needed only a limited vocabulary as I scribbled “pressure” over each of the six rounds in this fight. Proska was awarded the fight on a score of 59-55 in an entertaining battle.

Local fighter Michael Sweeney was the next man to enter and unlike his predecessors, he entered to enthusiastic applause and availed of strong crowd support. Essentially a light heavyweight, Sweeney took this fight at cruiserweight in order to perform in front of his home fans and he rose to the occasion.

His opponent, Roland Horvarth, outweighed him considerably, but the taller Sweeney dominated each round of this close affair. Although Horvarth attempted to impose his will on “The Storm,” Sweeney easily out manoeuvred him on the inside and was far superior when he decided to apply his jab and right cross from a distance.

The former Irish Amateur Champion staggered Horvarth in each round and used a 1-2-uppercut combination to great effect. The fourth round proved decisive as Sweeney floored the visiting fighter no less than three times, concluding the argument with a body shot which left the opponent incapacitated and thoroughly beaten.

The home fighter’s success continued as Imaikel “Mike” Perez, entered the ring. The Cuban born, Co. Cork based heavyweight entered at 15 stone 12 and a half pounds, considerably outweighed by his opponent, the confident Howard Daley.

Perez quickly stole the fight from Daley’s grip however, using a single slick counter and some violently quick flurries to force the referee to intervene in a similar fashion to Terry O’Connor, in the Calzaghe vs. Manfredo bout. Perez was clearly the superior man and enjoyed rapturous applause for his short night’s work.

Lightweight Andrew Murray too had a short night albeit, much more controversially than Perez. After two minutes and one second of the first round, opponent Wellington De Jesus was counted out. Speculation abounded as to the stoppage as it was apparent that the finishing blow had wandered below the belt. Although all agreed the blow was unintentional, the crowd may have been denied a fantastic fight because of this ruling.

In the final preliminary bout, Keith Cresham left little room for outside interpretation with a crushing stoppage in the fourth round. Cresham, who had neglected his jab in this fight, found his opponent Andrei Tolstihs’ chin several times in this round before he detonated a cracking punch on the unfortunate Latvian’s chin. This fight was honoured with a huge ovation from the crowd as the local boy, Cresham, entered the professional ranks with a gusto.

The entire promotion was highly entertaining and enjoyable. The boxing displayed served to emphasise the wealth of young talent in Ireland and the efforts made by Peters and various trainers around the country in grooming these young men for high level competition.

The event was intended to answer the questions posed after Dunne’s loss to Martinez. However, Machado’s gallant effort has presented an entirely new set of questions. Although lacking in the advantage of brute strength that Martinez enjoyed, Machado demonstrated the “beatability” of Dunne and at times his lack of experience.

In failing to comprehensively defeat Machado, Dunne has caused more questions as to the limit of his potential. Although this fight’s outcome could be attributed to ring rust on Dunne’s behalf, one must admit that he did not look like a fighter who could ever threaten Vasquez, Marquez or Molitor, all of whom are at the peak of this division.