In addition to streamlining and perfecting his boxing skills, Dunne has been working with conditioning expert Mike McGurn, whose name sports fans will know from his association with the Irish rugby team.
"Some of the sessions we've been having have been phenomenal," says Dunne. "They make you heave. They're that type of session. It's what you have to do."
'No pain, no gain' is a glib phrase that slips easily off the tongue. But the Neilstown man is talking about physically throwing up during exercise sessions that are as arduous and demanding as anything you might see on a marine's training DVD.
This self-inflicted punishment is designed to make Dunne a tougher, more resilient fighting machine. A high-tempo programme of weights, push-ups, footwork, medicine ball work, physical contact and punching while restrained by an elasticated harness is more demanding than that undertaken before Dunne's title- winning fight with Ricardo Cordoba in March.
"In his own mind, Bernard knew after the Cordoba fight that that's the level we set ourselves and that he'd have to go above that level to defend the title," claims trainer Harry Hawkins. "Bernard is determined. He came up to my house an extra two weeks and his training has been a lot harder than what he's done before. He's put himself through the grind and he never complains. In comparison to the Cordoba fight, I've no doubt he's at least a week ahead of himself. If the fight was on Saturday, I'd be happy."
Dunne knows the supreme, almost superhuman, effort it took to capture the WBA super bantamweight belt from the Panamanian champion.
"We sat down before this training camp and we said the Cordoba fight was brilliant and a great achievement and that the level we got to was fantastic," says Dunne. "But we can't go to that level again. We've got to go beyond it. We've always got to keep improving. We've got to keep pushing ourselves and making sure we do. I've got a great team and there's no one better that my da to give me a kick in the bum if I'm not doing it right."
Promoter and agent Brian Peters knows exactly what's at stake here. Defeat is as unthinkable as a collapse of the Irish banking system. When quality sparring partners were called for, Team Dunne imported three of the best, including Canadian Oliver Lontchi, who's currently rated number three just behind Bernard and next week's opponent Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym from Thailand.
Okay, so his preparation is good. But how does Dunne feel knowing that this boxer from Thailand has been the division's mandatory challenger for about 18 months and is surely intent on making the most of this opportunity to return home a hero and world champion. At Dunne's expense.
Personable though he is, back Dunne into a corner and you'll quickly find the gloves are off. "Whether he thinks the title should be his or not, it's mine," states Dunne, fixing me with an icy glare. "I beat Cordoba. I had a hell of a scrap with Cordoba to take that belt from him. I earned this world title and now it's about keeping it. Knowing that this guy wants to take it off me is what's driving me on. That's what's keeping me focused. That's what I'm in sport for. Whether it be boxing or tiddlywinks, you always want to win. It doesn't matter what level you're at, you always want to test yourself against the best in the business, and that's what this guy is."
Dunne never had a fight as punishing as the Cordoba bout in March. The Irish public had rarely seen a contest as gruelling, as testing or as dramatic.
When Dunne hit the canvas twice in round five, the dream seemed over for him and for the Irish boxing public. No Irish boxer had ever won a world title in Dublin before. With Dunne looking dazed and confused, it seemed we were going to have to wait a long time to celebrate a famous victory.
But miraculously he pulled himself up off the floor and struggled through to the end of the round. It was the sort of comeback you only ever see in superhero movies. But this was real life and Dunne had something extra in the tank.
"The second knock down took so much out of me," he recalls. "I swear there was an out-of-body experience where I went through a whole conversation with myself about what was happening. I could just hear Harry screaming at me, 'Get up.' And up I got. I seen out the round."
Dunne knows that those seconds he spent on the canvas were to prove the turning point in his life. They were the moments when everything, success and failure, glory and disappointment, hung precariously in the balance.
"To be honest, I was thinking to myself, 'Is this it? This is done. What do you do now?'" he reveals. "And I looked up and mammy wasn't looking at me. It was the weirdest thing. I know she doesn't watch the fights so I don't know why it was so weird to me when I looked up and she wasn't looking at me. She had her head on my da's chest. I said, "Why isn't she looking?" Then I could hear Harry screaming. He was using vulgar words but the gist of it was, 'Get up on your feet'. Up I got. Okay, I was dazed for about 20 seconds but towards the end of the round I blocked all his shots and I was back. Because I remember I threw a right hook at the end of the fifth that nearly knocked the referee out. If you see the DVD, you'll see me whisper a joke into the referee's ear as I walked past. 'Whoa, I nearly got you there,' I said. And the referee laughed. At that stage I was back and focused. After the fight Harry said he was shocked at how focused I was when I got back to the corner."
Listening to Dunne, seeing the glint in his eyes, you know the man has been in the trenches.
Next week, he'll be back there again. Meeting, perhaps, a more dangerous adversary. But this time, Dunne reckons he's going to be even better shape.
"Harry says he's very aggressive," admits Dunne. "But if he gives me room to box then super. We've made sure I'm prepared to fight him as well. You've got to. You've got to be prepared for eventualities. You're never going to avoid a guy for 12 rounds. There are going to be three or four rounds where you are going to have to fight him. And there are going to be rounds where you're able to box and move. And there are going to be rounds where there's not a whole lot happening. But there are going to be times when you are going to get hit. That's what boxing's about."
- Herald.ie
"Some of the sessions we've been having have been phenomenal," says Dunne. "They make you heave. They're that type of session. It's what you have to do."
'No pain, no gain' is a glib phrase that slips easily off the tongue. But the Neilstown man is talking about physically throwing up during exercise sessions that are as arduous and demanding as anything you might see on a marine's training DVD.
This self-inflicted punishment is designed to make Dunne a tougher, more resilient fighting machine. A high-tempo programme of weights, push-ups, footwork, medicine ball work, physical contact and punching while restrained by an elasticated harness is more demanding than that undertaken before Dunne's title- winning fight with Ricardo Cordoba in March.
"In his own mind, Bernard knew after the Cordoba fight that that's the level we set ourselves and that he'd have to go above that level to defend the title," claims trainer Harry Hawkins. "Bernard is determined. He came up to my house an extra two weeks and his training has been a lot harder than what he's done before. He's put himself through the grind and he never complains. In comparison to the Cordoba fight, I've no doubt he's at least a week ahead of himself. If the fight was on Saturday, I'd be happy."
Dunne knows the supreme, almost superhuman, effort it took to capture the WBA super bantamweight belt from the Panamanian champion.
"We sat down before this training camp and we said the Cordoba fight was brilliant and a great achievement and that the level we got to was fantastic," says Dunne. "But we can't go to that level again. We've got to go beyond it. We've always got to keep improving. We've got to keep pushing ourselves and making sure we do. I've got a great team and there's no one better that my da to give me a kick in the bum if I'm not doing it right."
Promoter and agent Brian Peters knows exactly what's at stake here. Defeat is as unthinkable as a collapse of the Irish banking system. When quality sparring partners were called for, Team Dunne imported three of the best, including Canadian Oliver Lontchi, who's currently rated number three just behind Bernard and next week's opponent Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym from Thailand.
Okay, so his preparation is good. But how does Dunne feel knowing that this boxer from Thailand has been the division's mandatory challenger for about 18 months and is surely intent on making the most of this opportunity to return home a hero and world champion. At Dunne's expense.
Personable though he is, back Dunne into a corner and you'll quickly find the gloves are off. "Whether he thinks the title should be his or not, it's mine," states Dunne, fixing me with an icy glare. "I beat Cordoba. I had a hell of a scrap with Cordoba to take that belt from him. I earned this world title and now it's about keeping it. Knowing that this guy wants to take it off me is what's driving me on. That's what's keeping me focused. That's what I'm in sport for. Whether it be boxing or tiddlywinks, you always want to win. It doesn't matter what level you're at, you always want to test yourself against the best in the business, and that's what this guy is."
Dunne never had a fight as punishing as the Cordoba bout in March. The Irish public had rarely seen a contest as gruelling, as testing or as dramatic.
When Dunne hit the canvas twice in round five, the dream seemed over for him and for the Irish boxing public. No Irish boxer had ever won a world title in Dublin before. With Dunne looking dazed and confused, it seemed we were going to have to wait a long time to celebrate a famous victory.
But miraculously he pulled himself up off the floor and struggled through to the end of the round. It was the sort of comeback you only ever see in superhero movies. But this was real life and Dunne had something extra in the tank.
"The second knock down took so much out of me," he recalls. "I swear there was an out-of-body experience where I went through a whole conversation with myself about what was happening. I could just hear Harry screaming at me, 'Get up.' And up I got. I seen out the round."
Dunne knows that those seconds he spent on the canvas were to prove the turning point in his life. They were the moments when everything, success and failure, glory and disappointment, hung precariously in the balance.
"To be honest, I was thinking to myself, 'Is this it? This is done. What do you do now?'" he reveals. "And I looked up and mammy wasn't looking at me. It was the weirdest thing. I know she doesn't watch the fights so I don't know why it was so weird to me when I looked up and she wasn't looking at me. She had her head on my da's chest. I said, "Why isn't she looking?" Then I could hear Harry screaming. He was using vulgar words but the gist of it was, 'Get up on your feet'. Up I got. Okay, I was dazed for about 20 seconds but towards the end of the round I blocked all his shots and I was back. Because I remember I threw a right hook at the end of the fifth that nearly knocked the referee out. If you see the DVD, you'll see me whisper a joke into the referee's ear as I walked past. 'Whoa, I nearly got you there,' I said. And the referee laughed. At that stage I was back and focused. After the fight Harry said he was shocked at how focused I was when I got back to the corner."
Listening to Dunne, seeing the glint in his eyes, you know the man has been in the trenches.
Next week, he'll be back there again. Meeting, perhaps, a more dangerous adversary. But this time, Dunne reckons he's going to be even better shape.
"Harry says he's very aggressive," admits Dunne. "But if he gives me room to box then super. We've made sure I'm prepared to fight him as well. You've got to. You've got to be prepared for eventualities. You're never going to avoid a guy for 12 rounds. There are going to be three or four rounds where you are going to have to fight him. And there are going to be rounds where you're able to box and move. And there are going to be rounds where there's not a whole lot happening. But there are going to be times when you are going to get hit. That's what boxing's about."
- Herald.ie