The waiting is almost over for Bernard Dunne with the first defence of his World title just over 24 hours away. Dunne faces the challenge of mandatory challenger Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym on the Hunky Dorys World Title Fight Night at The O2 tomorrow (Saturday, September 26th) with the Dubliner’s WBA Super Bantamweight title on the line.

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 KO win inside 7 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 then Champion Ricardo Cordoba in 11 breathtaking rounds on an incredible night at The O2. “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.”

 Dunne V Poonsawat headlines the Hunky Dorys World Title Fight Night.