Dunne and Coyle set for Breaffy bouts

Dunne and Coyle set for Breaffy bouts


Austin Garvin

BERNARD Dunne is heading back to the Breaffy House Resort on Saturday, November 15 for the next Hunky Dorys Fight Night, which is being promoted by Brian Peters Promotions in association with Hennessy Sports. At a glittering press conference held at Breaffy International Sports Hotel on Thursday afternoon, Brian Peters outlined details of the forthcoming promotion.
Obviously delighted with the success of his April promotion at the same venue, Peters has decided to return with a star-studded show, which has the added attraction of Geesala’s Henry ‘The Western Warrior’ Coyle appearing on the card.
The popular Geesala man has been based in Chicago since turning professional 18 months ago, and has yet to fight on home soil. His presence on the bill should ensure a huge following from the Erris area. His farewell bout in Geesala as an amateur drew over a thousand patrons to the tournament.
Also set to appear on the Hunky Dorys Fight Night are welterweight prospects John O’Donnell and Stephen Haughian.
Henry Coyle, who together with his father Gerry, received a great welcome at last week’s press event, says he will be fulfilling a lifetime’s ambition when he steps between the ropes at the Breaffy House Resort
“It’s always been a dream of mine to fight as a pro in Ireland,” explained Coyle who has won eight of his nine pro fights by knockout. “To get a chance right here in Mayo is the icing on the cake. The last time I fought at home was for my very last amateur fight, so it will be great to come back as a professional now.”
Coyle will be having his first scheduled ten-rounder on the card, which is headlined by Bernard Dunne.
“It’s going to be some night,” predicted former Irish senior champion Coyle, “and I’ll be looking to put on a big show. I’ve worked a lot on sitting down on my punches and I’m definitely punching a lot harder now. I think when you make the move into the pros your life really is dedicated to boxing, so it’s only natural you’ll start to improve in every area.”
It hasn’t all been plain sailing for Coyle, who suffered the lone defeat of his career in his third fight when he was stopped by Omar Bell. Coming to terms with the defeat was far more difficult that he could have imagined.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with”, admitted Coyle. “It was the first time I’ve ever been down in my life. I got back up and I felt I was okay to continue, but the referee didn’t give me that chance. If I’d been allowed to continue that night, I’m certain I would have had my hand raised at the end of the night, but the referee made the call and I accept that,”
For Dunne the November 15 fight will mark a return to the venue where he got his career back on track following his shock defeat to Kiko Martinez. He was warmly welcomed to the Breaffy venue for the first ever night of professional boxing in Mayo as he out-pointed former world champion, Felix Machado in an impressive return to winning ways. Since then the Neilstown man has notched up another win against Argentina’s Damian Marchiano in July to bring his record to 25 wins against just one defeat.
Manager Brian Peters believes Dunne could be just one fight away from a world title fight.
“We’re working on a shortlist of opponents at the moment,” he confirmed. “We want someone who is really going to test Bernard so that he will prove he’s ready to step up to world title level.
“There’s no doubt the defeat to Martinez set us back about 12 months, but Bernard has had two good wins since then. He’s now world ranked by the WBA, the WBC and the WBO, so we’re pretty much back on track in terms of positioning Bernard for a world title fight.”
Peters told the press conference that current world champions at both featherweight and super bantamweight have already made enquiries as to Dunne’s availability.
“We actually turned down a world title opportunity for Bernard earlier this year because we felt it had come too soon, but if we can win impressively in Breaffy next month he’ll be ready for anyone,” said the promoter.
The card will also feature the return of Tyrone welterweight, Damien Taggart. The Omagh man will be hoping to take inspiration from his mentor, Tyrone’s All-Ireland-winning football manager Mickey Harte who was in attendance at the press conference, as he bids to get back on track following his first defeat of his career.
Another man hoping to do great things is Sheffield teenager Steve ‘The Blue Steel Bullet’ Barnes. The talented 17-yea- old is a protégé of legendary Dublin-born trainer Brendan Ingle, who believes he could prove to be one of his greatest ever finds.
Amongst those in attendance at the press conference was Castlebar man Seán Horkan, who is Ireland’s most successful ever team manager, having seen Michael Carruth and Wayne McCullogh win gold and silver medals respectively.
Tickets for the Hunky Dorys Fight, priced from €60, went on sale on Friday, from Ticketmaster outlets, including Downtown Records, Castlebar and Hotshot Records, Ballina.