Dunne may be climbing up wrong ladder

AMERICA AT LARGE:FREDDIE ROACH, who presided over Steve Collins's corner for all seven of the successful supermiddleweight title defences that closed out the Celtic Warrior's career, was also the head man in the corner for Bernard Dunne's first 14 fights in America before the Neilstown boxer pulled up stakes and returned home to campaign in Europe.

Roach has, at 48, already won two Trainer of the Year awards, and probably put himself on the short list for a third last weekend with Manny Pacquiao's devastating conquest of David Diaz for the WBC lightweight title.

And right now you'd have to rate Dunne's chances of being named Fireman of the Year better than the odds on his winning a Fighter of the Year award.

Dunne, who packed over 8,000 devoted followers into the Point 10 months ago, may struggle to fill the much cosier confines of the National Stadium on Saturday night, when he faces the Argentinian Damien David Marchiano in his first Dublin fight since the disastrous result of his collision with Kiko Martinez in last August's Euro title bout.

Two weeks hence, Roach will fly to Britain to meet with representatives of Amir Khan, and is expected to take over as head trainer for the Bolton lightweight. (In early 2005, following his silver medal-winning breakthrough performance in Athens, the Bolton youngster, who had yet to turn pro, spent several weeks working with Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.) The one-round knockout loss to Martinez last summer had a devastating effect on Dunne's world-title designs.

Rated number three in the world going into that bout, Dunne is no longer ranked among the top 10 by any of the four major sanctioning bodies.

The subsequent revelation that he had already filed an application to join the Dublin Fire Brigade even before the Martinez fight seems to have had an equally devastating effect on his supporters. That Dunne was already in the process of establishing a fallback position going into that bout implicitly suggested to many of them their unwavering emotional commitment to a world-title quest they had come to regard as his birthright may have been greater than his own.

That Dunne comes to the Marchiano bout having now qualified to become a full-time fireman would seem to imply a crossroads decision in terms of career choices, but history would suggest there's no compelling reason he couldn't do both.

More rigorous research would undoubtedly reveal many more of them, but just off the top of the head we could think of at least five other boxers, some more distinguished than others, who successfully juggled their time between the firehouse and the ring.

(And this arbitrary list doesn't even include the noted trainer Richie "The Torch" Giachetti, whose earlier sideline helped ensure the continued employment of Cleveland firemen. "Before I was in the boxing business," Giachetti once diplomatically described it, "I used to be in the fire business.")

If only because of his name, Fireman Jim Flynn would seem the most conspicuous of the fireman/boxers. A full-time firefighter in Pueblo, Colorado, Flynn twice unsuccessfully challenged for the heavyweight title, and in a 1917 fight in Utah he was credited with authoring the only knockout of Jack Dempsey's career, although Fireman Jim's one-round KO is still regarded with some suspicion.

Even after he won the world middleweight title, Paul Pender described boxing as his "second occupation", behind his day job with the Brookline (Massachusetts) Fire Department.

Although he is historically regarded as a relatively minor figure among 160lb title-holders, the six fights that made up Pender's championship reign included back-to-back wins over Sugar Ray Robinson, a win over former champ (and future Hall of Famer) Carmen Basilio, and two wins in his three fights against Terry Downes. (Following his 1962 points decision over Downes in their third fight, Pender retired and went back to the firehouse.)

The Nashville fireman Chris Calvin never fought for a world title in a 17-year career that saw him compile a 25-9-2 record, but in 1985 the lightweight who described himself as the "Southern Rebel" authored one of the great upsets in Las Vegas history.

The night before the classic encounter between Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns, journeyman Calvin was matched against Hearns's stablemate Brett Summers, who was undefeated in 22 pro fights.

The featured bout of that evening's ESPN telecast had fallen apart a day earlier, rendering Calvin-Summers the de facto main event. Calvin knocked down Summers nine times in all before the late Joey Curtis finally intervened to stop it in the 10th, leading a relieved broadcaster Al Bernstein to note that night, "Joey may be a lousy referee, but he saved the whole show."

Tyrone Smith was a Boston fireman and an amateur when he twice won the Rocky Marciano Trophy as New England Golden Gloves heavyweight champion. Smith later transferred to the Boston Police Department, and was already 35 when he embarked on a less successful pro career. Now almost 40, Officer Smith is 5-5-2 and, in New York this year, fought to a draw with Jon (The Fighting Marine) Schneider.

Terry Marsh, the former IBF light-welterweight champion from Basildon, had been both a marine and a fireman, but there was little danger of his becoming, like Tyrone Smith, a cop, if only because we suspect he might have had difficulty passing the marksmanship course.

In 1989 the British promoter Frank Warren was shot at point-blank range outside the Broadway Theatre in Barking by a balaclava-wearing assailant, but survived.

Marsh, who had been embroiled in a financial dispute with Warren, was charged with the crime and spent 10 months in jail, but was subsequently acquitted by a London jury.

"I must be the softest-punching world champion ever," Marsh summarised his ring career in a Metro interview a few years ago, "because I had more than 200 fights, both amateur and professional, and I never knocked anyone out."

Whether Bernard Dunne's dual careers turn out like Paul Pender's or Tyrone Smith's remains to be learned, but a few weeks ago Freddie Roach happened to mention that when he heard of his former charge's loss to Martinez, he wasn't surprised that it had happened in the first round.

"In a couple of his fights with me he seemed to struggle for a round or two, and when he got knocked out by (former IBF 130lb champion) Famosito Hernandez in a sparring session at the Wild Card, that was in the first round, too," said Roach. "Ben always was a little 'chinny' in the early going, but once he warmed up, he never had that problem."