The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has appointed Irish boxing legend Bernard Dunne, who has produced both Olympic and world champions, as Director of High Performance for Indian Boxing.
A well-known name in the boxing world, Dunne will be joining Team India after a successful five-year stint with the Irish Boxing Athletic Association in the same position.
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Speaking of Dunne’s appointment, Indian Boxing Federation President Ajay Singh said, “We are delighted to announce Bernard Dunne as High Performance Director for Team India. He is a legendary boxer and also did very well while working with Team Ireland. As a federation, we focus on whatever it takes for our boxers to bring glory to the country. This is a huge boost towards our goal of winning a medal at the Paris Olympics. With the amount of experience and success she has, she is the ideal candidate for this role. I’m sure Dunne will guide our boxer to the next level of performance. We welcome him and wish him good luck.
During Dunne’s tenure with Team Ireland, Kellie Harrington became the Olympic champion in Tokyo as well as the 2018 world champion. She also guided Amy Broadhurst and Lisa O’Rourke to a gold medal at the world’s last World Championships and Aidan Walsh to a bronze medal. at the 2020 Olympics.
“Indian boxing is on the rise and it is our effort to give them the edge to win more medals on the international stage. Dunne is a big name in boxing and has helped boxers win medals on the big stage. His presence will certainly motivate our boxers,” added Hemanta Kumar Kalita, Secretary General of the Indian Boxing Federation.
Aged 42, he will take over the position that was left vacant following the departure of Santiago Nieva. Indian boxers have produced brilliant performances over the past few years at prestigious events including the World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. The arrival of this Irish boxer is certainly an important step in the development of Indian boxing.
“India have incredible boxing skills and their boxers have performed very well. It will be a great opportunity for me to work with them and contribute to their success. I am very excited to join the team and take the standard of Indian boxing to a new level,” said Dunne, who is also renowned in the world of professional boxing, having won the WBA World Championships (2009) and the European Championships (2007).
Dunne led Ireland’s high-performance boxing team from 2017 to 2022 and under his tutelage they performed at the highest level, winning European, World and Olympic gold medals. Dunne said his goal is to do a similar job with BFI and bring pride to Indian society through his team’s performance.
Dunne, who has 13 national titles to his name, joined India’s elite boxing program in Patiala.
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