Boxing In Ireland: WBA Champ Cordoba Preparing For Fight Of Life

Although WBA World Super Bantamweight Champion Ricardo Cordoba says he won’t be watching any video of Bernard Dunne ahead of their Hunky Dorys World Title Fight Night, the champ’s backroom team are adamant that they will be doing their homework on the challenger.

The two men clash at The O2, Dublin on Saturday, March 21 and Cordoba’s promoter Richard Dobal says they have the utmost respect for Dunne.

“I’ve a lot of respect for Bernard because he’s done what very few European fighters do, he went to the U.S. to learn his trade with Freddie Roach, who’s probably the most successful trainer in the world”, said Dobal.

“We know all about his sparring with Manny Pacquiao while he was in Los Angeles and we know that he was more than capable of holding his own with Pacquiao, so that tells you everything you need to know about him.

“We also respect him because he’s stepped up to the plate unlike a lot of other fighters. Even over here in Europe, guys like Rendall Munroe spoke about wanting the fight, but when it was offered to them we never heard back from them.

“That’s the good news for Dunne, but the bad news is that he’s facing the best super bantamweight on the planet on March 21st. It’s a very strong division, but if you look at the other champs, Israel Vazquez is out injured and nobody’s sure when he’s coming back, Juanma Lopez is untested.

As for Celestino Caballero, he’s going around saying he’s the best super bantamweight in the world when we’ve already proven that he’s not even the best super bantamweight in Panama right now – Ricardo has already beaten him! So when I say Ricardo is the best guy out there, it’s not hype it’s backed up by the facts.”

Dobal says his team are reading very little into the Dubliner’s lone defeat – the shocking first round loss to Spanish puncher Kiko Martinez in August of 2007.

“I’ve seen that fight, but a first round defeat doesn’t mean anything as far as I’m concerned. That can happen to anyone and has happened to great fighters like Jack Dempsey, Floyd Patterson and Emile Griffith and they all went on prove that they could fight a bit!

“The late, great boxing historian Hank Kaplan was my mentor and he always said a first round defeat didn’t mean anything because anyone could be caught cold. I’m disregarding that defeat, we’re looking at Bernard Dunne as if he was an undefeated fighter and Ricardo’s preparing for the toughest fight of his life.

“In fact, we’re here in Dublin now for the press conference with almost two months to go and he’s already in fighting shape. He’s a very dedicated kid and a very religious person who sees this as an opportunity to secure his family’s future. He’s worked very hard and overcome some tremendous obstacles to get this far so he’s not about to throw that away anytime soon.”

Tickets for the Hunky Dorys World Title Fight Night are priced from €50 and are available now from Ticketmaster (phone 0818 719 300 or visit ticketmaster.ie). Tickets are also available from Ticketmaster outlets nationwide.