By Mark Vester
Former champion and Irish legend, Wayne McCullough, has offered his to train the recently beaten Bernard Dunne (24-1, 14KOs). Two weeks ago, Dunne saw his perfect record go up in smoke as Spain's Kiko Martinez blew him away in 86-seconds of the first round in the main event of a card held at the Point in Dublin.
Prior to the loss, Dunne was a rising super bantamweight prospect on the verge of landing a major title shot.
McCullough told Independent.ie that Dunne has always had a suspect chin, and needs to add more defense to his fighting style.
"It all comes down to your chin. Before Bernard left America, he was rocked in a couple of fights, but he came through and won," said McCullough. "I had hoped he had improved his defense, but at the National Stadium in Dublin two years ago, he was rocked and put down twice against Yuri Voronin, the Ukranian, though Bernard won on points. So we all knew his chin wasn't the greatest.
"Andy Lee and John Duddy, the two undefeated Irish middleweights, have been getting great training opportunities in the US. Since I started training boxers, I talked to Bernard's manager/promoter Brian Peters about coaching him, but I heard nothing. That offer still stands, but ultimately the choice will be made by him and his wife Pamela."
McCullough still feels that Dunne is young enough to make the proper adjustments to get his career back on track.
"As for Bernard's defeat by Martinez, the first loss is a boxer's hardest. However, it is hard when you lose at this level since Bernard hadn't yet reached world championship standard. But at 27, he is young enough to make any necessary changes."
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