Boxing
O'Leary kicks off defining month for Irish boxing as Taylor prepares for farewell
O'Leary vs. Chamberlain live on DAZN - TONIGHT
Dublin is set for another boxing party when rising star Pierce O'Leary headlines the 3Arena for the first time in his career tonight.
Broadcast exclusively live on DAZN, O'Leary faces Mark Chamberlain and kicks off a defining month for the sweet science in Ireland.
Just a week after O'Leary's fight, Aaron McKenna and Callum Walsh will feature in a Zuffa Boxing event at that same arena before the legendary Katie Taylor makes her final bow at Croke Park on September 5, live on DAZN.
There have never been so many fight cards so tightly scheduled in Ireland for some time, and it looks like the future is bright with a renewed interest in a country which so often has excelled in boxing and produced some legendary names.
O'Leary ready to give hope for prospects
On St. Patrick's Day weekend, it felt like a new Irish boxing star was born on the undercard of Anthony Cacace vs. Jazza Dickens.
With Taylor sat ringside, O'Leary battered Maxi Hughes into submission, who retired at the end of the fifth round, and it was a breakthrough moment for the 26-year-old.
He sent the 3Arena into a frenzy that night, and his army of devoted fans will have snapped up the tickets to see their man headline and kick off a world title charge this evening.
But it's not just the here and now where O'Leary feels his impact can be felt, he also believes he can inspire the next generation of Irish boxers who now can see what the future can hold in a country whose boxing passion has been reignited.
"It’s going to be booming," O'Leary told DAZN News. "If I keep doing what I’m doing, keep smashing it, keep collecting titles, keep unifying divisions, that’s the plan. It gives young fighters hope and they are just going to keep on striving.
"The more events we have back in Dublin, the better the country is for boxing, and it’s just going to keep producing, not only fantastic amateurs, but the greats professional boxing can produce."
'Irish fighters not given the right platform to showcase talent'
The platform Ireland's fighters have been given is also feeding into this boxing resurgence.
It was not too long ago when the likes of Eddie Hearn's Matchroom or Frank Warren's Queensberry would go a considerable period with no shows in Ireland.
Now if you include Zuffa's Dublin show on August 8, that's four fight cards in the space of seven months, giving not only the stars, but also the prospects plenty of opportunity to build a fanbase in a country whose fans are passionate when it comes to combat sports.
One of those hoping to do exactly that is 20-year-old heavyweight Adam Olaniyan.
He features on the undercard of O'Leary's fight with Chamberlain before appearing on the bill for Taylor's Croke Park farewell a month later.
Speaking to DAZN News ahead of a big month in his professional career, Olaniyan expressed how there is finally a platform for Irish fighters, whatever level, to showcase themselves in the hope of moving on to bigger and better things.
"Irish fighters have not been given the correct platform to show their talents," Olaniyan said. "We look at Pearce who is doing his thing, getting opportunities, Frank is pushing him and getting him big Dublin shows.
"It gives us younger Irish fighters an opportunity to display what we’re about.
"I don’t know where it’s come from, but maybe the platform wasn’t right. I think we’re getting the opportunities now and we’re taking them with both hands."
Irish fight fans are in for a treat over the next month.
It will be an emotional evening at Croke Park come September as Taylor, the fighter who has spearheaded this renewed interest in Irish boxing, bids farewell, but there is an exciting future ahead as a wealth of promising talent looks to fill her void and become the face of sweet science on the Emerald Isle.
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