Dunne Vs Cordoba

We are fast approaching the biggest fight Ireland has seen in more than a decade, when this Saturday, we see Dublin’s Bernard Dunne challenge for the WBA Super-Bantamweight title from Panamanian Ricardo Cordoba.

Since the bout was announced, opinions have been divided, with the majority of boxing fans and the bookmakers believing that this fight is a step to far for Dunne. And to be honest, that is how it looks when you study both of the contender’s records.

Dunne’s (27-1)(14KO) only defeat against Kiko Martinez in August 2007 shook the Irish boxing world to its foundations as Bernard was seen as the shining light, and a leading contender to fight for a world title at some stage in the future.

Many questioned if Dunne would come back after such a devastating loss but come back he did, winning his next three fights against reasonable top-twenty ranked opponents, albeit all ranked at Bantamweight and smaller than Dunne.

These guys were tailor-made for Dunne who had shown before the Martinez fight that anyone with a bit of power could trouble him as his chin seems to be his Achilles. Unlike the Martinez fight, Bernard was able to hold on to the end of the contests and keep his unbeaten record. Then Kiko came along and took advantage of Dunne’s flaw and took his European title as well as Bernard’s O.

Cordoba comes into this fight with an excellent record of 34-1-2(21KO). The only glitches on his record have been when he travels, which could be a good thing for Bernard. In his native Panama, his record is flawless as he has beaten everything put in front of him, including his fellow country man and current world number 1 Super-Bantamweight, Celestino Caballero.



From videos seen of Cordoba, it is clear that he is very much a boxer much like Bernard, although he has decent power as you can see with his respectable K.O percentage. The record as I have said is solid, and for a guy who is only 24, there is a lot of experience there.

The issue that some might take with his record is that when he travels he doesn’t have success. This fight in Dublin will be only his fourth time travelling out of Panama to fight, and on his three previous travels, he hasn’t been successful.

His first trip overseas was against the Thai Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym in Kratingdaenggym’s backyard of Bangkok. He lost by split decision although the scores in the fight were convoluted to say the least. Cordoba has said that he feels he won this fight as well as his two draws against Ukrainian Wladimir Sidorenko, both held in Germany, which has been Sidorenko’s residence, much like the Klitschko’s for the past number of years.

So they are both boxers, with good records (much better in Cordoba’s case) and both have decent power. The main flaw that stands out when you analyse both guys is Dunne’s chin. As already stated, this has been exposed by a number of Dunne’s opponents, although Martinez is the only one up to this point to really take advantage.

Many have argued that Bernard should stay on the outside and box and move, ala Khan V Barrera; try use his boxing skills to beat Cordoba. The reality is that Cordoba has as much boxing skill as Dunne if not more so in my opinion, Dunne needs to try something different.

Bernard has shown, particularly in the earlier part of his career that he can hurt opponents, and he was getting good power into shots, especially into the body. Since he has come back from the Kiko Martinez loss, he has talked about working with a specialist to build up his strength and conditioning and this is the fight to show the fruits of this work, if there is any.

The longer that the fight goes on; the less chance Dunne has of winning. Dunne needs to stop being the matador and become the bull. He has to hunt down Cordoba, make him earn his big pay check and bully him so that he cannot take anymore.
If he does this, Dunne wins the WBA Super-Bantamweight Championship in five rounds. If he doesn’t finish Cordoba off by the fifth, then Ireland will be left waiting a bit longer for a world champion.