PIERCE O’LEARY enjoys nothing more than switching off his phone and spending time riding his horse and cart with his daughter.
O’Leary faces Maxi Hughes for the IBO super-lightweight world title on Saturday at Dublin’s 3Arena – which will be his first professional fight in Ireland.
To announce the event, O’Leary pulled up to the old Point Depot on horseback, a family past-time he is immensely proud of.
He said: “I’ve always been into horses but I never had any funding to have a horse and my grandfather, he was a coal man.
“He went around delivering horse and coal around all the flats around the inner city of Dublin.
“That’s my heritage, and the coal yard used to be right beside the 3Arena and obviously so much has changed now but the heritage that’s in the area, which is Sheriff Street, and myself, that hasn’t changed, and that’s who I am.
“That’s the person who I am. I’ll go around on a horse and cart and when I want a bit of down time and I want to spend a bit of time with my daughter, we’ll go out on the horse together and we’ll go to the beach and have some fun and we’ll treat the horses there.
“It’s part of us, which they are, and they’re family at the end of the day and if I can carry that heritage over.”
O’Leary looks after his uncle’s horse Bob and his very own Patsy – who has become somewhat of a local celeb around the town.
He said: “Once I’m in the stables and I’m in the yard with the horse, I don’t pick up the phone to anybody. That’s my downtime.
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There’s a massive year of boxing ahead!
It’s shaping up to be a blockbuster year of action inside the boxing ring.
Tyson Fury will make his return in April against Arslanbek Makhmudov while Oleksandr Usyk takes on the king of kickboxing Rico Verhoeven.
Conor Benn features for the first time since making the switch to Zuffa Boxing and Fabio Wardley will defend his newly won heavyweight crown.
Canelo Alvarez will be hoping to return after his defeat to Terence Crawford and heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk will also need to defend his straps.
Derek Chisora will fight for the 50th and (perhaps) final time against Deontay Wilder while Daniel Dubois is also on the comeback trail.
A whole bunch of British stars could also take a leap into superstardom, with the likes of Moses Itauma, Hamzah Sheeraz and Adam Azim ready to join the very top of the sport.
Here’s all the big fights coming up…
March
- Sat 14 – Jazza Dickens vs Anthony Cacace – WBA super-featherweight title – DAZN
- Sat 21 – George Liddard vs Tyler Denny – British & Commonwealth Middleweight title – DAZN
- Sat 28 – Moses Itauma vs Jermaine Franklin – DAZN
- Sat 28 – Sebastian Fundora vs Keith Thurman – Amazon Prime PPV
April
- Sat 4 – Deontay Wilder vs Derek Chisora – DAZN PPV
- Sun 5 – Caroline Dubois vs Terri Harper – Sky Sports
- Sat 11 – Tyson Fury vs Arslanbek Makhmudov – Netflix
- Sat 11 – Conor Benn vs Regis Prograis – Netflix
- Sat 18 – Callum Smith vs David Morrell – DAZN
- Sat 18 – Manny Pacquiao vs Ruslan Provodnikov
- Sat 25 – Lawrence Okolie vs Tony Yoka – DAZN
May
- Sat 2 – Zurdo Ramirez vs David Benavidez – WBA & WBO Cruiserweight titles – Prime Video
- Sat 9 – Fabio Wardley vs Daniel Dubois – WBO title – DAZN
- Sat 23 – Oleksandr Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven – WBC title – DAZN
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“That’s where I put my head down and relax and spend time and let the horse take all the bad energy out of me and we’re a very happy person once again.
“So that’s where I am, that’s where I am with that. And look, to be honest, having the horse in the in the inner city Dublin, going around the city, everybody loves it.
“And it’s the last person people think that they’re going to see on a horse. A professional boxer on a horse, what are you doing on a horse?
“But at the end of the day, that’s me, that’s who I am, I’m no different to you, and you need to remember that even though you’re this high profile athlete, I’m still no different to anybody else.”
O’Leary – now based in Liverpool’s Rotunda gym after leaving iBox in London – has had to travel all over Britain for fights and training.
But he will at last get his homecoming fight on Saturday – selling over 1,000 tickets himself to fans of all ages.
He said: “It’s a great thing. It’s the right thing to do and being able to fight at home.
“Just to have the crowds, the elderly people who’s pushing my mother and my father, asking them, ‘When’s he fighting at home, when is this, when is that?’
“Now they’re getting the opportunity to go and see me fight in the 3Arena, which is like 500 meteres from the home.
“So that alone is is everything as well also so they’re not going to get trains, planes, and automobiles here and there.”
