by James Slater – Tonight, at The O2 Arena in Dublin, Ireland, Thailand’s Poonsawat Kratndaenggym shocked local man and defending WBA 122-pound champion Bernard Dunne with a sensational 3rd-round TKO. Winning for the very first time whilst fighting outside of his home country, the once-beaten 28-year-old simply ripped the title from the brave Irishman. Decking the 29-year-old three times in the 3rd-round, each time with left hooks, the visiting fighter prompted the referee, Jean-Louis Legland, to stop the fight at 2-minutes and 57-seconds of the round.
Dazed and bleeding, from his ear and nose, Dunne suffered a quite brutal defeat – one that will really take some coming back from. The new champ is now 39-1(27). Dunne is now 28-2(15).
Always a very dangerous fight for the popular Irishman who upset the odds himself when winning the WBA title with a superb action-filled 11th-round stoppage victory over the respected Ricardo Cordoba back in March, tonight’s bout turned into a nightmare. Dunne started the contest well, but the 5’3″ challenger (who, confusingly, won the interim version of the WBA 122-pound belt back in April – Celestino Caballero being the WBA’s “Super” champion) would not be denied..
Stepping up the pace in the 3rd, Kratingdaenggym unleashed his power just as he had predicted he would, and down went Dunne. Showing the heart we all know he has, the taller man (Dunne stands 5’7″) tried his best but could not see out the round. The new champion silenced the big crowd, and the man from Thailand will be remembered in Ireland for a long time.
One of the best kept secrets in boxing when it comes to a good number of fans, the new champ – who has only been beaten, on points, by Wladimir Sidorenko – now looks set to make his name further in some big money fights. As for the vanquished Dunne; he has come back from a bad KO loss before, as he regrouped after Spain’s Kiko Martinez stopped him inside a round back in August of 2007. But can the gutsy warrior do it again?
On tonight’s under-card, heavyweight hope Tyson Fury returned to action just two weeks after his highly controversial points win over John McDermott. No doubt looking to get a nice KO over his oft-beaten Czech opponent Tomas Mrazek, the 21-year-old had to settle instead for a dominant points win.
The 28-year-old with the 4-22-5(3) record (coming in) managed to see out the full six rounds, though he was dropped late and clearly beaten. Fury said later than an injured hand stopped him from getting the stoppage victory. The 6’8″ Fury is now 9-0(7) and he will soon be getting it on with McDermott in a BBB of C ordered rematch before the end of the year.
Tonight, though, all thoughts are with the beaten Dunne, who was reportedly taken to hospital after the fight, for observations. It goes without saying we all wish him well.