Ben Dunne - MY FCUKIN HERO

alanceltic

Some people may think I have been looking through rose tinted "Dunne" glasses for far too long but words can not describe how fcuking PROUD I am of our Ben, he is my hero, he was before this fight but what he has done last night just brings many many more of the disbelievers to the table and there have been many.

I have been cheering him on from the sidelines from his very first fight on the 19th of December 2001 (wow is it that long ago), this was of course back in the days when any sort of coverage of irish boxing was well pretty much non existent and many a night i spent going to bed with the mobile tucked under the pillow waiting for the all important text at some ungodly hour of the morning and then saying a little prayer before actually mustering up the nerve to go and read it. I can vividly remember the day (probably about 5 fights into his career) when he made teletext and actually having a little smirk to myself, sounds really silly but this was irish boxing in 2002, a minority sport in all its hidden glory. From there it was a gradual build up and when he signed with Sugar Ray Leonard Promotions the media started to take a passing interest from there really the rest is pretty much well documented. I always hoped and prayed that he would fulfill his destiny, the path from a very early stage pointed in one direction and I dearly hoped & believed that he would see it through to the bitter end, sometimes when you reflected on where things were going you might doubt for a split second what your heart was telling you but I always held belief for without belief you have nothing.

I was gutted with what happened in the Martinez encounter and it took a long time to accept what happened but I never stopped believeing for a second that the journey was nearing an end but merely taking a different direction and held firm on the mantra that "if it doesnt kill you it will make you stronger". What really disappointed me was how so many people turned their backs on him and how some people dragged his name into the gutter (and there were many!!!) but all this served to do was to copper fasten his determination to achieve what many people taught was an impossible task, they simply stopped believeing.

Last night was a night that will stay with me to my grave, I went through every emotion know to man, from initial hope to extreme trepidation then in a matter of minutes you taste this hope crystalising into confidence that he will actually deliver on his destiny only to have it ripped from your very taughts as quickly as you could visualising his hand being raised in victory. A rollercoaster of emotions and far too much for me personally to comprehend in the highs and lows of what was a fascinating contest. It was nerve wracking in the extreme and I am still trying to understand if I actually enjoyed it as I still havent come down from the euphoria. To a man there were 9,000 people who stood shoulder to shoulder in that arena and regardless of what was said and spoken of before hand, after the first few exchanges there was a tangible auora within those hollowed walls which took hold of everybody. He said he would go to the gates of hell to deliver on his destiny and he left absolutely nothing behind. Last night was one of those moments in life which you park in the memory bank, in a lifetime you might have only a small handful of moments in your life which you truly regard as special. I was so caught up with emotion that I actually unashamedly burst out crying, I dont know why but I know I wasnt alone. I am a proud irishman at the best of times but last night I was especially proud to be born of this land and i was so proud of our kid, nobody deserved it more than him. More than anything else I am so happy for him, he has etched his name in the history of our spoting greats. Thanks for the journey it has been truly something special.

By the way the bookies repaid this "belief" i held in spades, i pulled a couple of grand out of their coffers at a hefty price of 16-1 (yep one of the mad fcukers who actually taught he could win by KO), delighted with that also but its of minor significance in the bigger scheme of things

sligobhoy67

delighted for ya alan!

however, merge this guys

alanceltic

alanceltic wrote: »

well one thing is for sure, theres a race on for the front page of the newspapers :D

Slightly off topic but am i the only one who thinks the bookies have screwed up on the odds, most on here admit its a genuine 50:50 fight, factor in that cordoba only has 3 ko's in his last 10 wins & also factor in that most title fights dont go the full 12, what price would you give for dunne to win by stoppage????? well bsports have it priced at 16-1, now is this me looking through rose tinted glasses or am i right in saying that the bookies are askin for trouble with this??

Dont say i didnt share my crystal ball with yiz lol, I had a vision and it looked something like this

Ben with belt.JPG

dunne BP macklin.jpg

joepenguin

Cheers for the pics and fair play for keeping the faith in Bernard. Great post!

Sugerraysarah

what a lovely story

well done alan

hugs and kisses from sarah

Johnnyjump

Well done to Bernard Dunne. Can't help thinking of the many people who ridiculed him after his knock out in his last fight. Great to see him coming back. Must make it all the more sweet for him.

Johnnyjump

A great day to be Irish on Saturday with the Grandslam. Mustn't forget Katie Taylor, as well as Bernard.

zesman

Good on you alanceltic. Wonderful you've kept the faith. Am delighted for Bernard Dunne. His triumph is wonderful however I feel it was overlooked by the Irish media. Am disgusted with RTE

ODD-JOB

Great story Alan , a real fan !!

I got the same obsession with Shane Mosley !! Im dreaming/considering going to his next fight on my own , be it in vegas or wherever !
Im kinda palish with a girl who interviews him and does the covers his media workout thing.

you got to follow ur dream , life's too short to wake up being 65 wondering what if !!

The margarito fight for me was the equivilent of the Cordoba fight for you !!

By the way , i won 208 euro on Dunne too ! yay !