BOXING WBA SUPER BANTAMWEIGHT TITLE FIGHT: THOSE SEVERAL thousand who arrive at the O2 arena on Saturday night will hope that the insights of confirmed Buddhist Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym are fatally flawed.

Buddhism involves finding salvation through insights into the nature of reality. If that’s not too heavy a consideration over coffee then Poonsawat is settling on round seven for Bernard Dunne’s reign as the WBA super bantamweight title holder to end. That might just bear down heavily on the Dubliner’s fans. Then again Dunne has a different reality.

“I have to knock him out and not rely on the scorecard,” said Poonsawat, whose only defeat from 39 fights has been away from home in Germany. “I have to finish it before the 12th round.”

He may be at peace with himself and the world but he’s not about to let the biggest fight of his career fall into the laps of judges on the banks of the Liffey. Buddhists can be cynics too.

Yesterday’s first head-to-head with the two fighters in Jimmy Chung’s Bar and Buffet on Dublin’s Eden Quay was an oriental nod to Poonsawat’s Thai homeland – albeit a Chinese nod – but little else jarred in a quietly simmering meeting with none of the trash talk of previous pre-match bouts. Poonsawat, a muscular, compact figure compared to the champion’s taller and more sinewy physique, spoke cooly through an interpreter. Unruffled, he made no bones about travelling to Ireland with the motive of an assassin.

“I’m happy to be here to fight Bernard Dunne but it’s kind of sad that Bernard has to lose his title in the first defence,” continued the Thai celebrity, smiling benignly at the television cameras and photographers. He has roughed up and beaten some of the best in the world, 27 of them by knockout, but butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.

Now 28, Poonsawat has been a world championship bridesmaid for 16 months. The number one mandatory challenger for that time, it was Dunne who nipped in front of him to win the WBA belt in the brutal epic against Ricardo Cordoba in March.

This is not the fight that promoter Brian Peters or Dunne wanted in the first defence and even the WBA governing body couldn’t challenge his patience any longer by denying him the title shot. But in a build-up that remains heavily shrouded in the tragic events of Darren Sutherland’s death last week, the Irishman remained calmly assured. Given that everyone was wrong about Dunne’s character and endurance last time out, few were prepared to verbally spar with him this time around.

What is known is that Dunne was hit by Cordoba and he was cut by Cordoba and that Poonsawat is a harder hitter than the Panamanian. Dunne’s punch resistance then was commendable, at times heroic and it is expected that he will have to be every bit as durable this time around in the face of a harder hitter, a come-forward challenger.

“I saw his fight against Cordoba (Ricardo). Very impressive,” said Dunne, who has not been resistant to praising the Thai visitor in the best Irish tradition. There is even a growing sense that he and Peters doth praise too much.

“I definitely punch harder (than Cordoba). He (Poonsawat) is not going to be able to walk through me. I had the best sparring partners available. They weren’t over here just to make a few quid. They were over here to push me. Poonsawat can do everything but we all know what I can do.”

Poonsawat has never been floored in his career and like Dunne has beaten the fancied Cordoba but the challenger’s win came after a split and hotly contested decision in Bangkok back in August 2006. Judges from Japan and Australia had Poonsawat winning but New York judge Luis Rivera had the Thai fighter capturing only two rounds.

His lone defeat in Germany was to Hamburg resident Wladimir Sidorenko, which kept alive the tradition of Thai boxers not competing well when they move out of their home environment. That perceived flaw was laid on the table in front of Poonsawat.

“The first time I boxed away was in Germany and I didn’t have the necessary experience to fight outside Thailand,” he explained. “I lost to Sidorenko and in my opinion Sidorenko is better than Bernard Dunne. To fight him in Ireland is tough but I have good experience of crowds screaming and cheering, so it is no problem for me this time.”

Nor was Dunne spared some of the verities of his opponent. “He’s never been floored Bernard,” said a journalist. “There’s always a first time,” shot back the champion. “I’ve got to make sure that whatever he brings to the table I have to bring more.”

And that was the end of the beginning. Or as the Buddhists might say, the first cycle.