Walstad targets Dunne's weight

Boxing: Bernard Dunne left nothing to spare when stepping on the scales in the Tara Towers Hotel this afternoon ahead his second European Super Bantamweight title defence.

Dunne weighed in on the 122 pound limit while his opponent Reidar Walstad (30) tipped 121.2 and quickly declared it the weight of the "new European champion".

But as Dunne (27) stripped to take the scales he joked that his opponent may require a drugs test after the fight because Walstad "must be taking something if he thinks he is going home with the belt".

The two then squared up, eyeballing both each other and the cameras before making way for the undercard weigh-ins.

Fans at The Point tomorrow night will hope for a lengthier encounter considering Dunne's abrupt demolition of his first challenger, Yersin Jailauov, since claiming Esham Pickering's belt.

Walstad, who in 1998 inflicted one of the eleven defeats of Dunne's amateur career, is confident this fight will be a better spectacle.

The Norwegian told ireland.comhow eager he is to face Dunne who, he reckons, is too big for the weight and not cut out for a 12 round fight, despite having gone the distance with Pickering.
 
"Look at Bernard, he's too big for the weight and he has problems going down, everyone can see that.

"He most likely should be at featherweight. He's losing too much weight and that's not good for a fighter.

"Remember, it's 12 rounds and he might be able to keep going for three, four, or five rounds but after that when he meets a powerful fighter who hasn't struggled with the weight he will have problems.

"I saw him at the signing of the contract and he was very big, he looks like he has been living a bit on the good side since the Esham Pickering fight.

"I feel very confident. I have had no problems with the weight," Walstad added. "He will have a very hard fight, not like the Kazakhstan fighter."

The Norwegian is promising to deliver but Dunne, who goes in search of his 24th straight professional win, has never been one to disappoint an expectant home crowd.