BFI appoints Irish legend Bernard Dunne as India’s new high-performance director

“I’m very excited to join the team and take the standards of Indian boxing to a new high altogether,” says Dunne.

Bernard Dunne (c) with BFI secretary general Hemanta Kumar Kalita (left) and treasurer Digvijay Singh. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement (BFI)

Former Irish professional boxer Bernard Dunne has been named the high performance director (HPD) for Indian boxing.

Dunne, who had a five-year (2017-2022) stint with the Irish Athletic Boxing Association, will take the place of Santiago Nieva.

During Dunne’s tenure with the Ireland’s team, Kellie Harrington emerged as the World (2018, Delhi) and Olympic champion (2021, Tokyo). Amy Broadhurst and Lisa O’Rourke won gold medals at this year’s World championships in Istanbul and Aidan Walsh secured a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.

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“India has boxing talents and its boxers have been performing exceedingly well. It will be a great opportunity for me to work with them and contribute to their success. I’m excited to take the standards of Indian boxing to a new high,” said Dunne, a well-known professional boxer who won the European Championship in 2007and the WBA World Championship in 2009.

“This is a major boost to our aim of winning medals at the Paris Olympics,” said Boxing Federation of India (BFI) president Ajay Singh.

The 42-year-old Dunne, who has bagged 13 national titles, has joined the Indian boxing elite programme at Patiala, said a release on Monday.