Poonsawat weighs in on the limit
Friday, 25 September 2009 20:09Watch Bernard Dunne v Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym on Saturday from 9.30pm on Pro Box Live, available on RTÉ Two and worldwide on RTÉ.ie.
Bernard Dunne and Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym have both made the weight for their Super-Bantamweight World title fight at the O2 on Saturday night, with the Thai boxer coming in right on the 122lbs limit.
Dunne, meanwhile tipped the scales at 121lbs and 8 ounces.
Poonsawat took four attempts before officials were satisfied that he was inside the limit.
Dunne confidently kept inside 122lbs figure, as he faces arguably a tougher match than the epic battle with Ricardo Cordoba that saw the Neilstown man claim the belt last March.
Dunne has been content to let Poonsawat do most of the talking since his arrival in Dublin last weekend.
The Thai challenger is predicting a knock-out win inside seven rounds, but the champion has his own ideas.
'He's been the mandatory challenger for this title for 18 months now," said Dunne.
'He says he's been made to wait but as soon as I won the belt I was happy to give him his chance, so lets see what he's made of now.
'I know what I'm up against, we've studied him and come up with a game plan.
'He's an excellent fighter but at this level you're always going to come up against top-level operators.'
Dunne hopes to be even better then he was back in March when he ripped the title away from Cordoba in 11 breathtaking rounds on an incredible night.
'The Cordoba fight is history now,' stressed Dunne.
'There's no point me dwelling on that fight, it's all about Poonsawat now and holding on to this title. I fought very hard to get to this level and I'm going to fight even harder to stay here.'
Tyson Fury's Irish debut against Ukraine's Tomas Mrazek is the highlight of the undercard.
Fury kept the crowd waiting as he was present at the birth of his first daughter in Manchester this morning.
Fresh from a win over John McDermott, he weighed in at 18 and a half stone.
