Irish prospect packing pizzazz and power

Boxing Interview with Sugar Ray Leonard: It was perfect timing, in 1981, when Sugar Ray Leonard stepped into the void left by Muhammad Ali as the most charismatic figure in world boxing.Having surfaced in the public's imagination after a gold medal win at the 1976 Olympics, Leonard passed up the chance to go to law school and accepted an offer of $500,000 for his debut professional fight, the first of a series of right decisions.

He followed that a few years later with the WBC welterweight title, when he stopped fellow Hall-of-Fame fighter, Wilfred Benitez, in November 1979.

Ten years later Leonard would be hailed as "Fighter of the Decade". He would win five world titles in five different weight divisions and would contest one of the most controversial world title fights in the history of the sport, against Roberto Duran in November of 1980, when the Panamanian world champion turned around in the eighth round, waved his gloves in the air and surrendered. No mas ("No more"), said Duran, astounding everyone.

There were few things Leonard couldn't do in the ring and beneath the flashy surface he was known as a stylist and a clinically shrewd analyst of opponents.

It is the latter ability as well as his global reputation that has now brought him into contact with one of Ireland's brightest prospects, featherweight Bernard Dunne.

With Leonard promoting him, the acclaimed Freddie Roach training him at the Wild Card gym in LA and Meath publican, Brian Peters, as manager, Dunne, like Leonard, is hoping to fill a void.

Not since Wayne McCullough and Steve Collins have Ireland had a world champion with enough public draw and charisma to even fill Dublin's Point Depot. From Dunne, though, Leonard is looking for more, but what he sees so far, he likes.

"Ben reminds me of myself, when I was fighting," he says. "Not his style, not the way he boxes but by the way he entertains the crowd. He's a performer. It's not just the boxing. That's important.

"He has also impressed me with his confidence. Sometimes he's over confident. But I also believe that his work ethic is excellent. I like this kid's motivation. It shines through every time he steps into the ring. It's very important to have that. Sometimes fighters don't. It's embedded. It's there. It's part of the personality."

After his absence from the ring since last November due to a hand inquiry, Dunne, who has won all 10 of his professional fights, eight of them by knock out, will be back in the ring on the March 12th in a six-to-eight rounder against Orlando Soto (6-5-1). Two weeks later he will be top of the bill at the Marconi Automotive charitable event in an eight-round main event bout against Angelo Torres (8-8-1). It's still small beer but Dunne is speeding in the right direction. Each bout is a step up.

"I heard things about him that he was truly a hot prospect," says Leonard. "My boxing scouts came back and spoke about him and then I saw him on one of my shows. He performed magnificently. The crowd went bonkers for him, his looks, his style and his personality too. The approach most promoters take is to protect their prospects but some day that prospect must fight someone of substance and it's inevitable he will lose that fight. You must always raise the bar to allow your prospect to be versatile.

"That's how we are trying to be with Bernard. I've won major fights because of versatility because of confidence, being composed and being very, very stable. Every now and then I have to inject that into Bernard.

"(In the) last fight he got knocked down. Great for his career. Every time you get in there (the ring), a punch can change the tempo of a fight. You can't teach fighters what to do when they get knocked down. You can talk about it and describe it but when it happens, you got to be able to deal with it. Crazy as it sounds, I'm glad that happened Bernard in his last fight. Mike Tyson got knocked down. He got back up when he fought Buster Douglas. He dealt with that. Again, the first time on the canvass.

"It's embarrassing; it's shocking to the system. It happened to me. To get up and continue is a rare quality boxers possess. It's about substance."

Dunne, a boxing scholarship student from Trinity College, Dublin, still has ring-craft to learn. Because of his ability to slip punches and take out opponents with his own shocking power, he occasionally rushes to finish the job. At the moment it is as much to hold the young Neilstown fighter back as to push him forward. The process is almost a balancing act between sharpening his talents and teaching him how to use them more judiciously.

"Boxing is a whole different generation now," says Leonard. "When Ali was fighting it was $5 million. When I was there a fight made $10 to $15 million. Now guys are making $20 million or $30 million. That's progress. There's a lot of money but there's just not as many well-known fighters around who transcend the market. "You have (Mike) Tyson and (Oscar) De La Hoya, who do that. Roy Jones doesn't cross over into the Wall Street, the business world. That's the key. You become corporate friendly. You look at the personality and skills, the whole package.

"You can look at Bernard and marvel at the hand speed, the power he can generate. He puts a little pizzazz into the fights and that comes naturally to him. When I fought Duran (the No mas fight), it wasn't planned to stick my chin out. I didn't think about it. That thing I did with my arms (he spun one arm around like a wind mill and threw a punch with the other). It was spontaneous. I did it on the spur of the moment and I don't know why."

Leonard has spoken to Dunne but the ring grooming is left with Roach, who is highly regarded. He has trained 17 world champions, so far. Dunne has sparred with only the best-world champions - James Toney, Johnny Tapia and Sugar Shane Mosley. He's gone a few rounds with Tyson too. The gym's attraction also reaches into Hollywood. Mickey Rourke, who became a journeyman professional for a short time, at the expense of his acting career, John Travolta and Sly Stalone have all paid their dues. But despite the celebrity status, The Wild Card's work ethic underpins everything.

"It's very hard to break down to the layman terms as to what makes a successful fighter," says Leonard. "But as long as there's a learning process, so long as the prospect has boxing intelligence working with him. My whole thing is to promote him.

"When I'm looking at fighters, I'm looking at the package. If he's talented but has no work ethic, I won't deal with him."

Dunne will have seven or eight fights this year, and having pocketed 11 amateur title in Ireland, should be fighting for his first USBA (United States Boxing Association) or NABF (North American Boxing Federation) title by the end of the year, which will be over 12 rounds. A European title might then be targeted. Pace is everything.

"I say to all boxers, stay focused," says Leonard. "Stay humble and always be ready, 'coz that's the game. Bernard has that."