BOXING NEWS:IF KIKO Martinez left doubts over Bernard Dunne's punch resistance, Saturday night's victory in Castlebar posed questions over his appetite for close-quarter battle.
The Dubliner was given a 100-90 verdict by referee Emile Tiedt after 10 competitive rounds against Venezuelan Felix Machado at the Breaffy House Resort. But for all the wide margin of victory it was clear the 86-second demolition by Martinez was still haunting the former European super-bantamweight champion. Gone was the pre-Martinez swashbuckling style, replaced by an overly cautious, wary approach against an opponent who was never going to be a serious threat.
Former World super-flyweight Machado, 35, managed to stand and play his fall-guy role in the return of Dunne, sending out his blows in hope more than expectation. The Dubliner's main concern was a nasty, deep cut picked up in the fifth round, sustained through an accidental clash of heads.
"I have a great cutman in Benny King, and as soon as I got back to the corner he told me not to worry about it, it wasn't going to be a problem. He said, 'You're already married, so don't be worrying about your looks!'" quipped Dunne. He also complained later of a damaged hand from the first-round onwards but it is the mind games which will surely be of greater concern. The demons of Martinez have to be exorcised sooner rather than later.
Dunne, 28, admitted he was tentative but believes he can build on this victory and take a more substantial step towards a world title shot. "I definitely have unfinished business with Martinez. I won't let that fight play on my mind and I have moved on from there, but I would like to revisit that situation at some stage and settle an old score.
"I'm delighted with the win, but the main thing is I'm just delighted to be back boxing. I think you could see the inactivity in me in there, so, now I'm back, I want to be particularly busy this year.
"I was a wee bit disappointed with my performance. Even though I hurt my hand, I still feel that my movement could have been better - but I definitely think the 10 rounds will be good for me.
"I'll have to let the cuts and the bruises heal but, after that, well, Brian (Peters) says he has a busy schedule in store for me and I'm looking forward to exactly that. I'll take a rest for a week or so and then get back into light training, but it will be a good four weeks before I'll be doing any sparring.
"Machado was a tricky opponent and was actually longer than I expected - by that I mean in terms of distance fighting and reach. I thought I would have been able to counter him an awful lot better and work off that, but he used his reach very well and, with me not being able to use the right properly, it made things difficult."
Dunne's coach Harry Hawkins believes Dunne has shown he is ready for a more serious test. "I could see Bernard's rust in the first two rounds and I could see his anxiety, but I think after those two rounds he was fine. Everybody was wondering how he was going to react to taking a punch after the last fight, but I was delighted with how he took them . . .," said Hawkins.
So the Bernard Dunne bandwagon is rolling again but some way off from his goal of a world title shot and it seems the scars Martinez left on his confidence are taking longer than expected to heal.
On the supporting bill Irish light-welterweight champion Andrew Murray stopped Brazil's Wellington De Jesus at 2:11 of the first round, stretching his unbeaten record to 12.
