Dunne fight will not be a sell-out

BOXING NEWS:BERNARD DUNNE'S super bantamweight WBA world title defence against Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym in the O2 Arena on Saturday will not be a sellout. Only 5,500 of the 9,000 capacity seats have been sold, although promoter Brian Peters expects sales to steadily increase this week

“Now the All-Ireland finals are over interest will increase, I’m sure. It’s impossible to compete with the All-Ireland. Yeah, things are definitely a bit quieter in the current economic climate,” Peters explained. “Average tickets sales are down everywhere even since March. It’s going well, but it’s not going to be a sell-out.”

The two fighters will face off this afternoon at Jimmy Chung’s restaurant on Eden Quay. The mandatory Thai opponent arrives in Dublin with 38 wins, 27 by knockout and a solitary defeat, a unanimous decision in Germany back in 2006.

“Bernard the boxer against yer man’s power. He is three times the better fighter Kiko Martinez is,” Peters continued. Martinez famously stripped Dunne of his European title two years ago after three knockdowns in Dublin.

Cavan boxer Andy Murray has had to withdraw from his fight on Saturday’s undercard due to a broken collarbone. The reigning EU lightweight champion was to defend his title against Italian Pasquale Di Silvio.

Meanwhile, Irish boxing chiefs have selected two squads to compete in the upcoming Nation’s Cup in Austria and the European Schoolboy Championships in Russia. Westport bantam Daniel Coughlan and Arklow welter Fergal Redmond have been named in a three-man panel along with Belfast middleweight Conrad Cummins for the Vienna tournament.

And a seven-strong squad has been chosen for the European Schoolboy Championships which glove off in Anapa on Saturday.

The squad includes Cavan boxer John Joe Nevin, a relation of World Senior Championships bronze medallist, also called John Joe Nevin.

Irish team manager and coach Tony Davitt said that, while he expected the Russian tournament to be very competitive, Ireland have an impressive record at this level.

He said: “Some of the best underage boxers in the world will be in Russia and it will be tough.

“But we have won medals at this level before and we’ll take a lot of confidence from that.”