India should have more success in boxing given its population size: HPD Bernard Dunne

NEW DELHI: It’s been a little over a week since Bernard Dunne joined as Indian boxing’s high-performance director (HPD), stepping into the shoes of Swedish Santiago Nieva who had resigned from his position in May this year. Dunne, a celebrated professional boxer who won the European Championship in 2007 and the WBA World Championship in 2009, has been credited with producing several World Championships and Olympic medallists during his five-year long association with the Irish boxing federation from 2017-2022.The 42-year-old Irishman believes that the country has huge potential to bring Olympic glory home, given its population size. By choosing India, Dunne admitted that he’s jumped outside his comfort zone and winning medals in Paris isn’t a mountain which Indian boxers can’t climb. Excerpts from his interview with TOI:
What has been your first impression of Indian boxers since taking the charge? How've been your experience of training them for the first few days?
Dunne: It's been really enjoyable and I suppose it's given me a really good insight into the depth and talent India has. My job, you know, is to manage and not have them over-trained. With so much talent here you know it's really important to put a structure in place, put the right process around how we actually prepare our athletes. And then yeah ultimately make sure you get the athletes to prepare and ready to perform.
Before coming to India, you must have followed the performance of Indian boxers at the World Championships or other international meets. How did you find them competing alongside the best in the world, since we come from a traditional boxing-playing nation?
Dunne: If I'm being very honest, I think India probably should have more success given the population India has, and a really strong support system between Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Boxing Federation of India (BFI). You see all that help kind of emphasizes that there's probably just 1 or 2 things missing in the system for India to achieve success. There's no doubt, you got athletes, you got coaches in place, it's just about finding that mixture to make sure it all fits perfectly together. I've only been here a couple of weeks but I've really enjoyed working with the team. They are a happy bunch, welcoming and most importantly a talented bunch and that's what excites me that I'm not coming here to reinvent a way, I'm here to help. My job is to support, support the coaches, support my sport scientists, support my athletes and that's the important part for me, it is to make sure that they have what it takes to perform at the highest level. For me it's all about the athletes, most importantly making sure that they are happy and they are comfortable training here.
What made you choose India as your next coaching destination? What did you find interesting about Indian boxing?
Dunne: It's a huge opportunity for any person, to be honest, to have the second most populated country in the world approach me and ask me what would I be interested in, you know it's a great honour. I was looking for a new challenge, I was looking to step aside from my comfort zone. Choosing India, I think I've probably jumped outside my comfort zone. I've left my family, they are going to come here for Christmas, I'm going to enjoy Christmas here. But for me, ultimately I've noticed talent here, I've noticed a want for success, there's a real hunger here. I have had conversations with both organizations, Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Boxing Federation of India (BFI) and they clearly have a desire to give every opportunity to make Indian boxing successful and I cannot wait to see that. I mean the facilities that are in place, the team which is going for Asian Championships, the team which is not going for Asian Championships, it's going to be exciting and challenging to select the best athletes.
What's the roadmap ahead leading up to the Paris Olympics 2024? How have you planned your training and international exposure schedule?
Dunne: Every step is towards, firstly to qualify. It's Asian Games or potentially World Championships just before that. Once we are made aware of when the exact qualifying dates are we will know when we need to peak and when to pluck our way back from there.
With little less than two years left for the Paris Olympics, do you think you have enough time on your watch to prepare our boxers for the world's biggest sporting stage? Or do you think you should have joined early?
Dunne: Firstly, I couldn't join earlier, I wasn't free nor available. When I became available India contacted me within a couple of days, followed by discussions for about a month, just to make sure everyone was happy. You're right, two years is a short time and it's going to go very quickly but I also believe that talent is here, it just needs guidance, right structure in place. When we get our preparation correct, when we get our process, the way we want to do things correct, athletes will hugely benefit. These athletes are already on top, you've got Commonwealth Games medallist, Asian Games medallist, World's medallist, you've got Olympic medallist in the team. It's going to be tough, yes, but it's not a mountain we can't climb. Once the right structure is in place, we have the right planning around the team, this team is going to triumph, this team is going to grow and one will see the benefits.
Your immediate challenge is the upcoming Asian Championships in Amman beginning later this month. What are your expectations from Indian boxers and have you set any medal targets from this tournament?
Dunne: Right now I'm just looking at performance, how our guys perform, firstly in the pressure, secondly expectations, India has great expectations for medals and our job is to make India proud, to bring medals home but again I'm not overly concerned about these championships. For us, and the conversations I had with the athletes, they want to bring Olympic medals home, they want to bring pride to the nation. And we are building towards that, putting plans in place, we spoke to Sports Authority of India (SAI) about what we need, spoke to Boxing Federation of India (BFI) about what we need and hopefully in the new year we will acquire everything we asked for.
You are stepping into the shoes of Santiago Nieva, who had an eventful five years with Indian boxing. He had created his own legacy and it's time for you to leave your footprints now. Your thoughts...
Dunne: To be honest, Santiago was the first person I called when the opportunity came to become the Director of High-Performance for India. Santiago spoke so well about the program, people behind the program, Sports Authority of India (SAI), Boxing Federation of India (BFI) and the coaches and support staff. So Santiago gave me a lot of confidence in regards to what I was coming into. He is a good coach, he is a good leader and I think he has done a fantastic job for India before his departure.