Brian Peters has managed to ensure Bernard Dunne’s first WBA world super bantamweight title defence will be in front of a home crowd when he takes on Thai boxer Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym at the O2 Arena on September 26th.
After being forced into a mandatory defence and a purse bid - which Peters won with a minimum offer of €120,000 (€84,500) - by the WBA, there were frantic efforts behind the scenes to secure a Dublin bout, as opposed to a meeting in the Chinese casino city of Macau.
The importance of the fight being on home soil cannot be underestimated because Poonsawaat is widely recognised as a dangerous puncher with top class technique, and has been avoided by higher profile boxers than Dunne in the past.
His record of 38 wins and 27 knockouts looks ominous, while his lone defeat, a July 2006 WBA bantamweight title fight against Wladimir Sidorenko in Hamburg, went the distance before a unanimous decision in favour of the Ukrainian.
He currently holds the WBA’s “interim” belt after defeating Rafael Hernandez in nine rounds in April and believes he'll stop Dunne in less.
"I've been waiting for this chance for a very long time but I've kept busy and I am very determined to finally get what I deserve," said the 28-year-old. "I believe that I will knock Dunne out inside seven rounds."
Like Dunne, Poonsawat has beaten Ricardo Cordoba, whose 11th round defeat to the Dubliner in March resulted in the Irishman claiming the belt he coveted for so long.
Poonsawat's win over the Panamanian came via a split decision in 2005 in Bangkok, and he too has endured a frustrating wait for a shot at the big time, a fact acknowledged by Peters today.
"Poonsawat has been waiting for a shot at the title for over 18 months now so he's a very determined man," said Peters at a press conference at The O2 this afternoon. "He says he has no fear coming to Dublin to take on Bernard but let's not forget that Ricardo Cordoba said exactly the same thing. Bernard's performance against Cordoba was absolutely sensational."
The Thai challenger's not so sure about Dunne's credentials.
"I watched that fight and both Dunne and Cordoba are good boxers but I'm not sure that Cordoba was in the best of shape for that fight. I fought him before and I know that he's not an easy guy to knock down," he said today. "So either he came in to that fight in poor condition or else Dunne must be a very big puncher.
"Clearly Dunne has a great fighting heart but I don't see him as a very skilled boxer. He proved against Cordoba that he has a big heart and maybe he is a big puncher too but we will see what happens next month."
There are a few positives to be taken from his impressive stats. The Sidorenko defeat, for one, has been his only fight outside of Thailand. Since then he has fought 14 times and been a comfortable victor in most, but many of his opponents were no strangers to defeat.
In fact, the only one with a record more impressive than Dunne’s 28-1, was compatriot Somsak Sithchatchawal (56-2-1 at the time), a former WBA champion who surrendered the title to super-bantamweight king Celestino Caballero in his first defence.
He was beaten in 11 rounds by Poonsawaat, while it took just three for the Panamanian, who was relieved of his national title by Cordoba and among the fighters the Dubliner would have preferred to meet on his first outing as champion.
Another of those was Israel Vazquez but after contact was made with Frank Espinoza’s camp the Mexican decided to move to 126lbs on his return from injury.
Dunne, therefore, was left with a less lucrative mandatory defence against a formidable opponent, but another packed house on a chilly autumn evening in the Dublin docklands, will provide an atmosphere Poonsawaat is unlikely to have experienced before.
In case an intimidating atmosphere wasn't enough, Dunne himself believes he will be in even better shape next month than he was when Cordoba came to town.
"He says I'm not the most skilful so he obviously hasn't seen that much of me yet," said the 29-year-old. "I'll be looking to use all my skill on the night and I've been working very, very hard again with Mike McGurn on my strength and conditioning. He's been putting me through hell but it will be all worth it next month.
"I worked so hard for the Cordoba fight but I'm even hungrier for this one and I've stepped up my training again for this fight. I've already been based in Belfast with Harry Hawkins for the past month and there's another five weeks of hard work left.
"I'm sure he's going to come to fight but I'll be ready for 12 hard rounds. Its going to be a hell of a night again, the atmosphere last time at The O2 was something I'll savour for the rest of my life and I'm sure it will be just as good next month."
