Bernard Dunne is about to take over as India Boxing’s Director of High Performance, according to reports in Asia.
The Clondalkin native resigned from his position as IABA High Performance Director in May of this year.
The former super bantamweight world champion took over in 2017 and oversaw a period of transition in Irish amateur boxing.
Dunne was at the helm of a rebuilding after a disappointing Rio Olympics and the departure of some of Ireland’s best fans to the professional ranks.
That rebuilding attempt took place amid some very pointless infighting within the IABA and Dunne will argue it was a success considering Ireland won only our third boxing gold at the Tokyo Olympics, as well as another bronze.
The former St Matthews striker ignored calls to reconsider his decision and now appears set to take on a similar role abroad.
It is no secret within Irish boxing that Dubliner was contacted by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Boxing Federation of India (BFI).
Reports from India now suggest that Dunne is the number 1 choice in the country and could start working with the team very soon. The Asian country is also considering appointing a foreign head coach, not sure if Dunne will have a say in who is chosen.
India has a strong boxing history and although it has only won three Olympic boxing bronzes, it always competes well at the World Championships, where it has won 48 medals, as well as the Asian Championships, where it has a total of 118 medals won. .
They finished second to Northern Ireland in the overall standings at the recent Commonwealth Games with seven medals.
Dunne is not the first former high-achieving director to be lured abroad. Billy Walsh, who oversaw a medal record with Team Ireland, is now running operations at Team USA.
