Ireland might have a new star on its hands following Pierce O’Leary’s one-sided destruction of veteran contender Maxi Hughes.
O’Leary claimed the IBO title at junior middleweight in front of a vociferous crowd at Dublin’s 3Arena when Hughes’s corner withdrew him in the fifth round to protect him from further damage.
“That was special,” a jubilant O’Leary, 19-0 (11 KOs), told IFL TV. “Selling the tickets and getting the chance to prove to Frank, George [Warren]and Lee [Eaton] at Queensberry that I can sell them, the proof is in the pudding and I went and did it.
“He [Hughes] was a tricky operator at the start, but I knew I’d eventually get to him. There was too much class, and it was only a matter of time. Frank delivered. He promised me. He said he’d bring me back to Dublin and he’d get me a world title.”
O’Leary had said there were tough periods on the way through when he had considered his future in the sport.
“There was times when I was nearly about to quit boxing because of how hard it was and the hardship I was living through,” he added. “I had to change up, move to Liverpool and I had a new lease of life and that was it. I’m surrounded by a smashing team; we are all thriving and that’s what it’s all about.”
Hughes, conversely, was distraught. He had to go to hospital as a precaution because of the swelling that was forming beneath his right eye.
“I was devastated it ended that way,” Hughes said on social media. “Thought I was doing okay, following the plan, move, because I knew we were up against it being at the weight above, felt okay and I think it was four or five punches that changed the fight. The swelling has come from underneath, lost my balance a little bit, got caught in the ear, my ear’s popped… We rolled the dice, and it didn’t pay off. We gambled and it didn’t pay off.”
