February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Going 10 rounds for the first time in his career and tackling his first southpaw in the pros, Dunne ground out a unanimous decision over Mexican super bantamweight champ Adrian Valdez to maintain his unbeaten record in the ring after 14 bouts.
The scoring in the non-title bout, the main event on the Showtime cable network’s “ShowBox: The Next Generation” boxing series, was close but irrefutable.
Judge Mark Nelson saw it 96-95 for the Dunne, Russ Walker had it 96-94, while Ed Kugler gave it to the Irish prospect by a generous 97-93 points.
It was a bruising fight, bloody at times as both boxers left the ring with cuts on their foreheads from accidental head butts, and certainly Dunne’s most testing contest as a pro.
Both fighters displayed good chins and there were no knockdowns.
But Dunne, 24 years old, like his opponent, was the more aggressive man and always first to initiate the action. From the first round, when he connected with a right uppercut, the Los Angeles-based Dubliner’s intent to pressure his man was clear.
He caught Valdez, who dropped to 14-3-3 (7 KOs), with many hard shots and ate a lot of leather in return. Valdez, big and strong for a blown-up 122-pounder, refused to fold and had his moments when he landed sneaky counters — the most telling with his left hand
“He was very awkward, my first southpaw in the paid ranks, and a real tough guy,” Dunne said. “He had a strategy and stuck to it. He’d throw shots and hold me. It was a good learning experience.”
Valdez, who trains fighting cocks in his Juarez hometown, fought on his back heel early in the bout and then seemed to take the upper hand in the seventh and eighth stanzas when Dunne appeared to tire and lose his technique a bit.
Dunne was hit with some good shots but caught his second wind in the ninth round when he resumed chopping away at the tall Mexican, who at 5-foot-8 had an inch on him.
The Irishman finished the stronger of the two and attempted to close the show in style with a strong rally in the final round, during which he rocked Valdez with several big rights.
Even before the result was announced, Valdez, an effective straight puncher who did his best work countering the incoming Dunne from the outside, was lobbying for a rematch.
“Me and you, one more time,” he gesticulated in fractured English
Dunne, however, preferred to savor his 14th straight victory, even though he didn’t win in the manner he’s accustomed too — via stoppage.
“I didn’t box as well as I can,” he confessed. “My hands were not flowing as they should have been, so I had to grind out a [decision].
“But I showed my other style. I showed my [courage].”
With nine stitches required to close the cut on his forehead, Dunne is unlikely to return to the ring before late October.