February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Dunne, based in Los Angeles until last fall, dominated the light-hitting Betts from the opening round, bloodying his nose in the second stanza and gradually wearing him down with steady punishment early in the scheduled 10-rounder.
The Neilstown native then closed the show to the raucous delight of the 2,000 fans with a thudding left hook to the body one minute into the fifth stanza to up his record to 15-0 with 9 KOs. Betts fell to 18-4 (6 KOs).
Dunne was thrilled with his performance that kept him on track for a European title crack against belt holder Nicky Cook of England.
“I missed that punch [the left hook to the body] once or twice early on,” Dunne, who’s 25, said. “But he was a tough guy and he came to fight. I knew it would take a punch like that to put him away.
“He tried to lull me into a brawl once or twice, but I stuck to the game plan. I knew I’d have to box him for a few rounds and then maybe break him down after five or six rounds and that’s the way it worked out.”
Dunne was ecstatic over the interest his ring return had garnered, including a live television audience of some 150,000 viewers on RTE.
“It was great to get that exposure,” he said. “It was great that so many people came to see [the fight] here at the Stadium and that many more were watching on television at home and are now aware that Bernard Dunne’s back.”
His promoter-manager, Brian Peters, said Dunne would probably fight again in April, at a larger venue.
BARRETT WINS
Francis Barrett, once the toast of Irish boxing in the late ’90s, outpointed English-based Lithuanian Oscar Milkitas over six rounds on the undercard of the Dunne-Betts fight.
The Galway-born Traveler and holder of the fringe European Union light welterweight title, improved to 17-2 (2 KOs), while Milkitas is now winless in two professional contests.
Barrett, who’s 28 and a 1996 Olympian, was also fighting in Ireland for the first time as a pro. He’s lived in London since 1998.
In another prelim fight at the National Stadium, Jim Rock retained his Irish super middleweight belt with a seventh-round TKO of Peter Jackson.