“It Was Make or Break” – Pierce O’Leary on the Night That Secured Dublin Boxing’s Big Bang
Pierce O’Leary admits everything was on the line the night he Dublin debuted last March.
‘Big Bang’ finally got his homecoming calls answered and got to trade leather at the 3Arena, where he stopped regular Irish boxer banana skin, Maxi Hughes.
It was a moment and a night that was a long time coming, yet it was an audition as much as an event.
Queensberry and more so DAZN wanted proof the Sheriff Street native was headline capable. They got proof courtesy of a massive turnout and another clinical display by Ireland’s only reigning European Champion.
With verification of his leading man ability, they return in August with O’Leary to the fore.
It’s another huge night for Dublin boxing and another significant stride toward becoming Dublin’s main boxing man for the Inner City puncher, who can admit the first step was the steepest.
“There was serious a lot of pressure on me that night,” he told Irish-boxing.com.
“I had it all on my back because if I lost, we weren’t going back. There was no Dublin again. It was up to me to go out and perform and be successful.
“When I made the ring walk and I seen the place filling up, I said, ‘Right, this is it.’ I went up onto the stage and thought, ‘It’s either going to make it or break it.’ I didn’t even want to get off the stage – the feeling was something I never experienced before.”
“Soon as I got into the ring, I looked at my coach and he looked at me – we both knew. I was ready. It was time to get the job done and enjoy everything after.”
The numbers in attendance and the noise they made highlighted O’Leary’s pulling power. In that regard, the first part of luring Queensberry back to Dublin was done.
However, there was still a job to do for the Dublin Docklands. He had to deal with Hughes. Granted, O’Leary was the favourite against a late replacement, but the English fighter who knows how to disrupt careers, having derailed or temporarily derailed things for the likes of Jono Carroll, Gary Cully, Paul Hyland Jr and even James Fryers.
However, with so much on the line for the 26-year-old home fighter, the apple cart was never going to be upset.
“He had no hope,” declared the Liverpool-trained fighter.
“Not only that, you could hear him on the inside. I could hear him – he didn’t enjoy it. He had no faith he was going to pull something out of the bag.
“I took his best shot and he looked at me like, ‘How are you still standing?’ I’ve been hit by a lot harder – it didn’t phase me at all.
“To be honest, I thought it could have been stopped earlier. He was getting a bad beating. If they let him go back out and get seriously hurt, it would have been wrong. The right decision was made.”
The game plan, O’Leary reveals, was always about controlled pressure and forcing Hughes into uncomfortable territory.
“We knew what Maxi was. We had a plan and we stuck to it. We made changes quickly and nailed them.
“We stayed on him because we knew there was quitting him. That quit was going to come halfway through the fight – and that’s exactly what happened.
“It didn’t matter how I won. The main thing was getting the win in front of my home crowd and making a statement.”
O’Leary looks likely to fight Mark Chamberlain in August and has a winter show lined up. He was also asked to fight on the Katie Taylor card in Croke Park and depending how August plays out, that could be possibility.
