Confident Dunne looks to the future

Boxing/ Super Bantamweight: Bernard Dunne will step into the ring tomorrow night. People will again get excited. Dunne has been able to take the fan base created on his amateur reputation and hold them for the last three years since he turned professional.

Tomorrow in The Point should be no exception to what's gone before. The people who filled the venue when he beat England's Escham Pickering to win the European title have bought into the idea that in an industry filled with hype and trash talk, here is a fighter whose stated ambitions have been matched with performance. In an era of delusionary self worth that in itself is a success.

Dunne is not yet the finished article. A world title fight at this point makes little sense. Everyone seems in a rush for a meteoric rise. But not the fighter. He is still learning and has so far gone 12 rounds just once (against Pickering).

Tomorrow he will be expected to take another step towards greater things. Long-term concerns remain fixed on a World title, probably at the end of the year, but Dunne's caution has been finely sharpened. Although his opponents are hand picked, since Yuri Voronin almost scared his perfect record in May 2005, Dunne is circumspect about everyone who steps into the ring with him.

"We don't look down on this guy (Yersin) Jailauov," he says. "These next two years for me are big years. I've just turned 27 and I'm going to defend this belt as best I can and then we'll sit down and talk about where we should go then. But this is his chance to be me. This is his chance to make a name for himself and we have to be prepared.

"We've still a bit to go. But don't get me wrong. If the opportunity presented itself next week I'd have a go. I know what I do going into the gym. But there are some great fighters in this weight division and even being named in the same breath as them is an achievement."

Jailauov, a 29-year-old from Kazakhstan, will arrive in Dublin with grand designs. His wish to relieve Dunne of his belt is based on more than just wishful thinking. The fighter had a strong amateur career before turning professional in 2000.

In 1998 he won a Gold medal in the Goodwill Games beating Roberto Benitez in the final.

In his professional life he has lost four times in 23 outings and the last one is the one he feels was most damaging to allowing him move on. In 2006, when he challenged Michael Hunter, the then European champion, he was stopped by the referee. The official had reason to do that but few others were able to detect why the bout was brought to an end and subsequent reports described it as "bizarre stuff". So Jailauov is smarting for another chance to step up.

"Nobody puts more pressure on me than me," says Dunne. "That's what I'm in the gym for. That's what I train for. It's a big year for us and my focus is to retain the belt. I don't get complacent and I make sure that I train hard if not harder than before. I'm always looking to improve and while I know I'm not the finished article I'm always trying to improve in every aspect. I'm in boxing to test myself against the best in the world."

Dunne's manager, Brian Peters, has been clever with the opponents he has selected this far and in Pickering he found a fighter who took Dunne the distance and stretched him. Prior to that few of the selections were able to do even that. Jailauov, although largely unknown in this part of Europe, could be awkward and unpredictable but few believe that he has the measure of the Irishman.

"I think we can discount that result (against Hunter) really when taking Jailauov into account," says Peters. "He jumped at the chance to fight Bernard because he was so disgusted at the early stoppage in his fight with Hunter so he sees this as a chance to make amends."

What the Pickering victory did for Dunne was raise his profile outside of Ireland. He is now mapped by various world bodies and more people than those in The Point or tuned into RTÉ will be watching his progress. He is ranked seven with the WBO, eight with the WBA, 12 with the WBC and 13 on the IBF's list. He's also ranked in the prestigious Ring ratings at number 10.

"I've seen him in a few rounds on tape," says Dunne. "In fairness, though, I'm not worrying that much about my opponent. I concentrate on myself. I prefer to let them worry about me. It's about me trying to impose myself on my opponent."

The words ring true and have been borne out by his success to date. Super Bantamweight Dunne, 22-0 and counting.