Reidar Walstad might be well advised to study a few chapters of Irish history before coming to Ireland this weekend, boasting that he is going to stage another Viking raid. Walstad meets undefeated European super-bantamweight champion Bernard Dunne at the Point in Dublin this Saturday night, and the Norwegian has vowed to rip the title from Dunne in his own hometown.
Walstad reckons he has a psychological edge over the Dubliner, and he’s playing it for all it’s worth. The Scandinavian beat Dunne in the European Championships in 1998 in one of Dunne’s few defeats in the amateur ranks. And now the 30-year old, ranked number 3 in Europe, says he is going to do the same again, and insists that he is not worried that Dunne has been sparring with ex-world champions ahead of the Point showdown.
“I have set up training camp in London and I’ve also been sparring with some very good fighters,” he says.
“I’ve sparred a lot of high quality rounds to prepare for this and I’ve worked very hard in the gym. I’m just looking forward to 23 June now and to battling it out in the ring at The Point, and of course winning the European title.The fact that I have already beaten Bernard gives me great confidence that I will do it again.”
Bernard Dunne, 27, claims he doesn’t remember too much about their first meeting, but Walstad hit back, more or less accusing the champion of selective amnesia: “Maybe he wants to forget about it because if he thinks about it too much it will worry him before our next fight.”
Dunne refused to be distracted, however, and the Dubliner – who has been in training with coach Harry Hawkins at the Holy Trinity club in Belfast – reckons there is no future in nostalgia, and his entire focus is on 23 June.
Commentating on the amateur defeat, Dunne said: “It’s not about revenge at all, I certainly don’t look at it like that. That first fight was all a long time ago, and what I need to do now is focus on the job at hand, just like I would for any other fight.”
That reversal was one of only 11 suffered by Dunne in an amateur career that saw him rack up 119 wins. Dunne’s record in the professional ranks is even more impressive, the fighter recording 23 straight wins since switching ranks in 2001.
Meanwhile, the undercard to the Dunne/Walstad clash suffered a blow last week when former Olympic silver medallist Wayne McCullough announced that he will not box in Dublin.
It is understood that Belfast born McCullough, who now resides in Las Vegas, was concerned about the suitability of his opponent for his first fight in over two years. Francisco Mateos was being lined up as a possible opponent for the “Pocket Rocket”, but there were question marks about the Mexican’s availability due to visa difficulties.
Speaking regarding the withdrawal, promoter Brian Peters said: “It’s a great shame that Wayne won’t be on the card... Obviously, the absence of Wayne is a major disappointment not only to myself but to the boxing public at large, but these things are part and parcel of staging a professional boxing show.”
Oisin ‘Gael Force’ Fagan, Neil Sinclair, Patrick Hyland and John Timlin will all box on the Dunne undercard, and Jill Emery and Angel McKenzie will also clash at the Point in the first ever all-female pro contest in Ireland.
Oklahoma-based school teacher Oisin Fagan, who holds a degree in political journalism, meets England’s Chill John over eight rounds, and says he is eagerly looking forward to boxing in his home town.
“I used to go to The Point to watch all my favourite bands perform when they came to town and now I’ll be fighting in the same arena so that’s very exciting,” he commented.
His opponent, Chill John, is no stranger to Ireland, having already clashed with undefeated Stephen Haughian and given Paul McCloskey a real scare earlier this year, dropping the Derryman for the first time in his career before he got up to win on points.
Fagan however, is confident: “I’ve received some tape on him and found he’s a slick boxer with good movement and speed. He definitely comes to fight but unfortunately for him, that’s the way I like it. It will be down to the guy with the greater will, and I absolutely refuse to get beaten in that department...
“I’ve caught up with all the lads that have had a lifetime of boxing experience because I work harder in the gym than any fighter I know.
“Take my last three opponents, for example. They had an accumulation of 225 fights between them. I knocked out one of them in the first round, another in the second and the third, an unbeaten former world champion, was held to his first-ever split decision.”
That undefeated former world champion was Paul Spadafora, and he won’t be forgetting Fagan in a hurry. Spadafora, who held the IBF lightweight title for four years, clashed with Fagan in March, only just emerging victorious on a controversial split decision.
Fagan added: “Fighting Spadafora was a great experience. It did a lot for my confidence. He’s a former world champion, so coming so close to beating him helped me a lot.”
Boxing fans will be spoilt for choice on Saturday night, as the European Union Championships finals will also be held, at Dublin’s National Stadium.
At the time of writing it was impossible to know how the 11-man Irish squad were doing. However, Bernard Dunne’s coach Harry Hawkins, who was in super-heavyweight Cathal McMonagle’s corner when he won his Irish senior title last January, said that he believes that the Irish contingent – which includes Mc-Monagle – has the talent and experience to add to the eight medals won by Irish boxers since the inaugural EU tournament in Strasbourg, France, in 2003.
