Craig Bunn Aims To Make an Impact During His Comeback
By Terence Dooley
Droylsden’s Craig Bunn believed that his boxing career had shuddered to a premature end in August 2007 after being sentenced to four years in prison for his part in an assault on a fellow Droylsden resident. Bunn had inked a professional deal prior to all of this and two of his fights took place with the threat of jail time hanging over the former Junior ABA titlist.
Bunn racked up a 4-0-1 (0) slate before going inside, he served his time, waited patiently for his license reapplication to be granted by the BBBoC and now aims to start afresh on a Hatton Promotions bill at Bury's Castle Leisure Centre on Friday night. “I’m ready,” said Bunn when speaking to Boxingscene about his return. “It has been five-years so I can’t wait.”
Bunn now operates at light-heavyweight after discovering that although you can still train in prison the work is geared towards building up your physique rather than honing boxing technique. “While I was away I did a lot of weight lifting and circuits so put quite a bit of muscle weight on,” admitted Bunn, who endured a frustrating period on the sidelines as former amateur foes such as Brian Rose climbed the domestic ladder.
“I am fighting at 12st 7lbs (on Friday) and looking at light-heavyweight,” he revealed. “I feel good with the move up, fit and strong. It is going well. I feel sharp, I don’t think there will be as many people as fast as me out there at the weight – [trainer] Joe [Pennington] said I have the speed of a welterweight or lightweight. Now it is just about getting back on track.”
Bunn’s states that his time away from the sport helped him mature, his decision to put the past behind him boosted by the belief that if he served his time and kept his nose clean his license would be reinstated. He said: “I’m nervous, but excited at the same time, it feels good. I’ve been away (from boxing) for four-years so it feels like starting over.
“I turned professional at 19. I was a bit immature, but now I’ve got a girlfriend and just stay around the house so things are going good. My amateur career went well. I won the Junior ABA title and the Four Nations. I got to the National Association of Boys' Clubs Under-19s Finals and lost to James Coyle, but everyone said I had won it. You sometimes get that in the amateurs so Joe advised me to turn pro.
“Then I got into a bit of trouble and had the case hanging over me for twelve months. I shouldn’t have fought because I didn’t have the right mindset. I can’t even understand it; it is like I’m a different person looking back. I can’t think of what was going through my head at the time. I was pissing about, really, and wasn’t as dedicated.”
Did this turmoil and immaturity contribute to Bunn's six-round draw against Dean Walker in 2006? He answered: “I’m not trying to be disrespectful, but I thought I won it even though I was messing about, asking his corner man to jump in and take his place, and catching him with the back of my hand. That fight was on a Sunday, I had been out on the Friday and that shows how immature I was. (I was) not cocky, but people were telling me I would go beyond these four, six round fights to better kids and it got to my head a bit.
“Even as an amateur, I was getting into a lot of trouble. I was still running about the streets when I won the Junior ABAs, but going away made me grow up. People think I may have not respected the sport, I did – it was just the way I was living at the time. I don’t do anything like that now; I train and do a bit of roofing work through my mate, and am fully dedicating myself to boxing. I know that a lot of people think that what I did [in 2006] was pretty bad. But I have matured now.”
Although he only had five fights under his belt before going away, tales of Bunn’s amateur exploits preceded him and helped win the respect of his fellow prisoners in the same way that Pat Barrett’s British and European title winning career helped smooth the path for ‘The Black Flash’ when serving time for a gun possession charge. Barrett whiled away his sentence by watching TV soap operas, supping cups of tea and training, Bunn also utilised the sport when inside.
“When I went away you were asking people what they did and they said this or that, everyone was talking about what they did and they knew I’d been a boxer,” said Bunn. “Boxing is all I thought about. When I went away I thought, ‘My boxing career is over now’ – I was mad that I couldn’t do it anymore. People in there knew me and would say, ‘Oh yeah, you’re the boxer’, and knew me for that, not what I’d done in the past so I made my own pads in there and did a bit of work with some lads – I got a lot of respect for what I’d done in boxing.”
The 6' 1'' fighter's career resumes against Darren McKenna, 1-2 (1) on Friday night. Sparring sessions with Liverpool’s Tony Bellew ahead of Bomber’s fights with Bob Ajisafe and Ovill McKenzie also enabled Bunn to shed plenty of rust and gauge himself against a three-time ABA heavyweight title winner.
He said: “It has all come around again so quickly. I came out (of prison) when I was still young. The board knocked me back (when applying to be for his license again) for a few years, but I got it back and sparred guys like Bellew. We went shot-for-shot and he’s won the Commonwealth (and British) title – that let me know that I still had it.”
“Craig is a top kid,” stated Bellew when speaking to me over the phone ahead of Bunn’s return. “He did his time, got out of nick and is looking to change his life. What he did wasn’t an unforgivable crime so people should get off their high horses because we’re all human, he’s paid his debt."
Bellew added: “Sparring Craig was a real bonus to me. I actually sparred him before he went away, when he was at light-middle and I was a heavy, then I sparred him later on when he was a bigger lad and I was getting ready for Bob Ajisafe and the first McKenzie fight. I didn’t hold back, he held his own and people will see a big difference in him this time around. I’d have him back for more sparring; tell him to call me anytime.”
Prior to his break, Bunn had worked with another Liverpudlian, Tony Dodson, ahead of Dodson’s British super-middleweight title defeat to Carl Froch in 2006. Bunn believes he acquitted himself well during those sessions and feels that if he can bring his amateur and sparring form over to future contests he will soon be knocking on the door of the domestic top ten.
He said: “I know where I can go if I do things right. I don’t feel like I’ve had a career because of everything that happened so this is the start.”
Despite his own move through the divisions, Bunn prefers fighters from the lower weights, especially the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, due to their masterful movement. Bunn feels the amateur code is now trying to be too like the pro game and needs to return to the hit-and-move, point scoring style.
“I like the way they move,” Bunn’s take on fighters from the lower weights, “because a lot of fighters just plant their feet now and just stand and trade like heavyweights. When I was an amateur you fought in an amateur style, a lot of them try to fight like professionals now – planting their feet and going to the body. England boxers always used to move, throw straight shots and score, now a lot of them are standing their ground, throwing uppercuts and working body shots, which don’t get them points.”
“But I also rate [WBO title holder Nathan] Cleverly and a few other light-heavyweights,” said Bunn. “The main thing separating those guys from me is the rounds under the belt and the experience. People who support me say I can do things against those names – I don’t look that far ahead. I haven’t fought for years and these guys have been fighting so you can’t put yourself in that class, but that is where I want to be.”
He added: “I watched Tony Dodson against [Ovill] McKenzie. McKenzie can be beat. You have to push him around the ring and hit him with body shots because he is strong. People go in there nervous and worried because he can punch, that is the last thing you want to do with him. I wouldn’t mind going for that title when I’ve got some fights behind me because I’m mentally stronger now. I always had confidence, it is hard to explain it, but I was just a kid when I turned pro and you’ve got to be ready for the pros.”
Bunn is now ready, by close of play on Friday night his fans will know if he is still able and the fighter himself will have a sense of how far he can go during his second run in the sport.
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