Boxing:Bernard Dunne's 24th opponent of a flawless professional career talked a good fight ahead of the pair's meeting in The Point last night and the Norwegian certainly delivered by taking the European Super Bantamweight champion 12 rounds before losing out on a unanimous points decision.
Reidar Walstad inflicted one of Dunne's 11 amateur defeats when the pair met in 1998 and though he never looked likely to repeat that he made the Neilstown fighter work for everything he got.
The diminutive boxer was in Dunne's face from the first bell but found it difficult to inflict much damage as Dunne kept him at bay with a fiercely accurate left jab.
Walstad did his best to get close and when he did manage to land some body blows, Dunne's two and a half inch height advantage left him struggling to hurt the champion.
Dunne had the crowd on their feet in the second round with some more well timed left jabs and a right hook that cut Walstad's left eye. This would later require the doctor's attention but the Norwegian appeared unfazed by the wound throughout.
Walstad celebrated the end of each round triumphantly and began every one by rushing out to meet his opponent. Dunne always remained calm, and took time to celebrate another good combination in the fifth by raising his right arm to salute the crowd.
The challenger was unperturbed and continued to get in and about Dunne when he could evade the Dubliner's left jab. Referee Luigi Muratore of Italy called the doctor to look at the Norwegian's eye in the seventh, but it was a nuisance rather than a hindrance.
Walstad's plan had always been to see if Dunne could go the distance and as the bout wore on he found the Dublin fighter well able for it. Tiredness meant the pair traded blows a little more recklessly but it was Dunne who landed the cleaner shots, with Walstad never getting to grips with the left jab.
The crowd urged Dunne to finish it before time but despite forcing his opponent on to the ropes in the dying moments he could not find the power to put him down. Both fighters knew the outcome at the bell, as did the crowd, and cheers replaced the boos that had greeted all things Norwegian before the bell.
Dunne was the comprehensive unanimous points winner with scoring of 116-112, 115-113 and 118-111.
Next in line for Dunne is most likely the mandatory challenger Kiko Martinez of Spain. The 21 year old has a professional record of 16-0 (with 13 KOs). He's a talented fighter. And if he has half the heart of Walstad he'll be a formidable opponent.
