By Chris McKenna: Bernard Dunne brought an end to his boxing career in a brief appearance on Irish broadcaster RTE’s Friday night chat show The Late, Late Show.

It was cringe-worthy to sit and watch Dunne be hailed by the presenter of the show, Ryan Tubridy, as some sort of national hero who lifted the country as the economy crumbled around it.

Don’t get me wrong, the boy done well but he could have been so much better. He won a European title and a WBA World title, both achievements that cannot be sniffed at.

However, Dunne could have been better having began his professional career in America he had a great opportunity under the guidance of one of the world’s best coaches.

For some reason, whether he wasn’t good enough or didn’t enjoy being away from home, the Dubliner returned to Ireland and decided to build his career with the help of Brian Peters’ promotions.

Dunne had plenty going for him – courage, dedication and fast hands – but he lacked the power needed and his defence was poor.

He showed his courage to beat Esham Pickering and Ricardo Cordoba for the European and WBA title respectfully but his defence of these crowns against Kiko Martinez and Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym proved that the Dublin super-bantamweight was not world-class.

Martinez took 90 seconds to dismantle Dunne’s defence and Poonsawat, while taking a little longer, also made the Dubliner look like a journeyman.

Credit is due to Dunne for recovering from the Martinez defeat to comeback, also credit to Brian Peters his promoter, who was crucial to the recovery.
The Cordoba fight was a thriller but only because it was two well-matched, average fighters battling it out. It was exciting stuff, it was one of the fights of the year but it was certainly not the battle of the world’s best in the division.
The atmosphere was electric and it was great to see so many people getting behind an Irish fighter but too many got carried away.

RTE and sections of the Irish media tried to make out that Dunne was a household name worldwide but in truth, he was and still remains virtually unknown to most outside of the Emerald Isle.

Dunne’s stint fighting in the old Point Depot and the o2 Arena did further raise the profile of boxing in Ireland after the previous summer’s successful Olympics for the Irish amateurs.

It was great for the sport to be so heavily focused in the Irish media for once and it continues to be held in a higher regard than maybe it once was.

Dunne’s charisma and charm has helped the sport a lot but people need to be reminded that he was not a great.

His wisest career move was to retire now as there’s no way he can get another world title fight and anything less, after the defeat by Poonsawat, would struggle to sell out the National Stadium in Dublin, nevermind the o2 Arena.

Let’s just hope that those some of the ‘fight fans’ that jumped on the Bernard Dunne bandwagon can continue to support Irish professional and amateur boxing so that the sport can continue to grow in Ireland.

And that one day Irish boxing will have a true great world champion again as there is plenty of potential in the amateur ranks at the moment.