Dunne plays down great Indian expectations

Bernard Dunne is trying to make sure Indian expectations remain realistic.

The former world champion’s appointment as high-performance director of Indian boxing has been met with great fanfare in the Asian country. The Indian boxing fraternity hoping for a massive upturn in medal fortunes.

However, the Dubliner is keen to make it very clear that there are no quick fixes when it comes to international-level boxing, even for a team with India’s talent.

The Clondalkin native says the focus will be on incremental improvements and putting structures in place to allow the fighters to fulfill their potential.

“Nothing is easy at the level of boxing these guys are competing at. To expect that you can go and just get medals is just fanciful. What we can do and what I’ll be focusing on for the next couple of years is allowing my athletes to get the best out themselves. That’s all I want. I want them to maximize what they can perform. That’s the only thing they can control. If they can do that, the results will come by themselves,” he says.

“The basic thing is getting the processes right. It’s about getting the little pieces to connect. I don’t have to teach these guys how to box. They are already at a really high level. What I need to do is increase the percentages of everything that they are doing,” he says.

The former super bantamweight champion of the world hopes to overall structures after Paris but between now and 2024 he will try work to improve the current team, although he doesn’t foresee dramatic changes.

“One goal would be to get these athletes five percent better in every aspect of training. If we can make these athletes five percent better, it is a huge jump. What we are particularly trying to do is get some consistency. We have to get these athletes to understand themselves. I need them to know what they are going to impose on the opponent. That’s where I work from. The first step is to know what our strengths are.”.