Ringnews24.com: Can you tell us about your extensive amateur career?
Dean Byrne: I had a lot of fights as an amateur and enjoyed my time. I trained at Crumlin boxing club in Dublin which is a really good gym and has won many awards like boxing gym of the year. My trainer was Philip Sutcliffe, a great trainer and former Olympian.
Ringnews24.com: I read you had over 200 amateur fights. Is that right?
Dean Byrne: Well, from that gym I was fighting all the time, like every week. Not sure I had 200 fights but I probably could have done. A lot of the fights were probably not recorded. We were fighting all the time and all over the country. I also fought in multi nations tournaments in Scotland, Bosnia, Australia and all over the world.
Ringnews24.com: You made your pro debut in Australia. Why was that?
Dean Byrne: I went to fight over there with Ireland as an amateur. I just loved being out there as it really gave me a buzz for boxing. Johnny Lewis asked me if I wanted to turn professional out there. He trained Kostya Tszyu, Jeff Fenech and other great fighters so it was a real honour to be offered the chance to train with him. I took him up on his offer, gave it my all and within five fights I’d won the Australian title.
Ringnews24.com: How proud were you to win the Australian title considering how many great fighters have held it?
Dean Byrne: Yeah, it was brilliant. I mean it’s great winning any national title, whether it’s Australian, British or Irish. It’s just an amazing feeling being champion of the country you live in. For me it was a great feeling because it was the first title I won and that’s what boxers dream of doing. One day I hope to lift a world title.
Ringnews24.com: What would you say was your best performance to date?
Dean Byrne: I’d say it was one of my performances from when I was in the USA because they were really on the money. My fight against Jose Reynoso in 2009 was probably my best performance so far. He was a really tough opponent; a big tall southpaw, and I floored him three times. I broke my hand in the fight and still managed to win. It was a great fight.
Ringnews24.com: How did the move to the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles come about?
Dean Byrne: Well, I went over there to get some more experience. I was the Australian champion at the time but I wanted some more experience before I moved up to fight for bigger titles so I could see how good I was. You need to train with the best and the Wild Card has that. So I went to Freddie Roach and asked if he would train me. He had a look at me and we clicked and then he trained me. We had about six fights together in the USA. Unfortunately it didn’t work out in the end because I had to come home for family reasons. But I had a great time there and gained a lot of experience.
Ringnews24.com: How valuable was your time at the Wild Card gym?
Dean Byrne: It was great for my career. I sparred with Manny Pacquiao for two of his fights. I sparred with Amir Khan a lot and Victor Ortiz and a load of other guys. I also flew to Miami and sparred with Yuriorkis Gamboa. It was like every day you’d spar a world champion or even a tough Mexican guy who would give you a tougher sparring session than even the more well known names in the gym. It was a great time for me.
Ringnews24.com: There was a period between December 2010 and October 2011 where you didn’t fight despite being very active up until then. Was there a reason for that?
Dean Byrne: I broke my hand around that time and it took a while to heal. I had some visa problems too. I broke my hand again in 2011 against Frank Horta. It was a really frustrating time of my career because it kept me out of the ring and I just wasn’t being active enough. To be a champion you have to remain active and just keep busy in the ring. If I hadn’t broken my hand I would have probably fought a few more times and probably would have done better. I don’t regret anything though because it’s all a learning curve and I’ve got to just improve now.
Ringnews24.com: You’ve lost your last two fights. How much of a blow has that been to your career?
Dean Byrne: Well, it’s not just been a blow to my career but also to my confidence. The loss to Horta was my own fault really. I took the fight at 24 hours notice and had to take off 9lbs the day of the fight. It was a 12 round fight and I hadn’t fought for a year. I just wasn’t busy enough that year. I was out for a long time and when you’re not busy enough and then take a tough fight at short notice you can lose. That’s what happened to me.
Ringnews24.com: Do you think if you’d have been able to prepare properly for the Horta fight you would have won?
Dean Byrne: I hadn’t trained properly and the fight was a 12 rounder against a tough fighter. If I’d have been ready mentally and physically I’d have won. I needed to take the fight though. I mean I’ve got a family I need to support so I had to take the fight for the money. It’s just unfortunate it came at short notice.
Ringnews24.com: After the Horta fight you then lost a close decision to Terry Holmes. Did you feel as though you had done enough to win?
Dean Byrne: I thought I hadn’t performed at my best on the night but I still felt as though I’d done enough to get the win. The thing is there was only one judge and that was the referee. My corner even threw in the towel at one point in the fight and I think that probably swayed the judge in Holmes’ favour. But I know that if we fought again I would win next time. He’s a tough fighter but I think I took him a bit lightly. Best of luck to him though.
Ringnews24.com: Would you say you have learnt from those two losses?
Dean Byrne: Yeah, for sure. I’ve learnt that I won’t take a fight again unless I’m ready for it. That is definitely one lesson. In the Holmes fight I learnt that even if your opponent has only fought four round fights you can’t underestimate anyone in the ring.
Ringnews24.com: Can you learn just as much in defeat as you can from a victory?
Dean Byrne: Yeah, definitely. You can probably learn more in defeat. Every fighter learns from their mistakes. It’s how you come back from a defeat which counts. Amir Khan was knocked out by Breidis Prescott but he came back to become a world champion while Prescott hasn’t won a world title.
Ringnews24.com: You’re fighting Kevin McCauley on September 15th. How has your preparation been?
Dean Byrne: I’m feeling great and can’t wait to get back in the ring. I’ve trained hard and been sparring all the time, now I just can’t wait to get into the ring. I’ve sparred Nathan Weise, Richard Commey and some others. I now want to show what I can do. I had two opponents pull out so that was a bit frustrating but I now have an opponent I’m just looking forward to putting on a good performance. I want to put my last two fights behind me. This is a new start.
Ringnews24.com: Who is your current trainer?
Dean Byrne: Archie Bell from the Streetwise (SW) pro gym in London. It’s going great with him. It’s a really good gym and has some talented fighters who train there like Nathan Weise and Richie Commey. Carl Frampton trains and spars there a lot too.
Ringnews24.com: Who’s your manager?
Dean Byrne: Mickey Moo. He’s been looking after me recently.
Ringnews24.com: You’ve fought in some fantastic cities including London, Dublin, Vegas, California and Sydney. Which was your favourite venue?
Dean Byrne: Vegas. Nothing tops Vegas, it was great. I fought Jose Reynoso there so getting the win just made it that much better.
Ringnews24.com: After a couple of setbacks, will we see you bounce back even better than before?
Dean Byrne: Definitely. Now I’ve got a fight lined up I’m happy and raring to go. I’ve been training hard and I want to prove my two losses were just minor setbacks. Now I want to fight and get back to winning ways.
Ringnews24.com: What are your ambitions for the upcoming year or so?
Dean Byrne: My ambition is to get back in the ring and start winning some titles; no matter what titles they are. Just keep winning and get up the rankings and maybe get an eliminator.
Ringnews24.com: Thanks for talking to us Dean and best of luck on the 15th.
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