Pierce O’Leary has long called for showdowns with the top junior welterweights.
A win on Saturday could put the unbeaten Dubliner on that very path.
O’Leary takes on Liam Dillon for the European junior-welterweight title on Saturday from Portman Road Stadium in Ipswich, England. The EBU belt, whose past two owners were Adam Azim and Dalton Smith, should push O’Leary into the showdowns the Irishman has been craving.
O’Leary is part of perhaps the worst club to be in boxing – the “Who wants him?” club. O’Leary, 16-0 (9 KOs), seems good enough to mix it up with the very best at 140lbs but doesn’t really bring the risk-reward factor to the table. Winning the European title should help change that perception.
“This is the opportunity we've been waiting for - for a long time,” O’Leary, 25 years old, told BoxingScene. “Obviously it’s come now, we've been putting ourselves, all we could do is put ourselves into position. That's what we've done and here we are now, the rewards are paying so. EBU title, European title, and again it's a good opponent.
“A lot of people are writing [Dillon] off, but I'm certainly not writing him off. This fight is a world title for me, so if I win this then I move on to bigger things. It's all about just going out there and performing, once I perform he won't be able to live with me. And that's not a disrespect to him, that's just me, confidence in myself and my ability and all the hard work that I put in day in day out.”
O’Leary-Dillon serves in supporting capacity to the Fabio Wardley-Justis Huni heavyweight clash. The exposure should help raise his profile, as he’s struggled to get any of the division’s big hitters in the ring.
Boxxer’s Ben Shalom recently declined an offer to match Azim – one of his top fighters – against O'Leary on the high-profile Chris Eubank Jnr-Conor Benn card in April.
“I’m a big threat to every single one of them, but they're only going to run for so long,” O’Leary said of his struggles landing a big name. “Once we get this out of the way we're going to have a big fight announced as well soon enough, and then hopefully go to Saudi against one of those big names at the back end of the year.
“[I’ll fight] any one of them, it doesn't really matter does it? It doesn't matter, they're in the way, if Turki Alalshikh wants to make those fights happen, then they’ll happen pretty soon. They're the fights that we want, back end of the year, within 8-12 months from now I'll be a world champion.”
O’Leary is ranked in the Top 10 by the WBC. A victory over Dillon on Saturday will prompt his team to push for a shot at the famous green-and-gold belt.
Alberto Puello is the champion and next faces Subriel Matias in a dangerous title defense on July 12 in Queens, New York.
Smith, the mandatory challenger, is also next in line for a shot at the championship. Given his desire to face any big name at junior welterweight, he doesn’t really give any thought on who will prevail that night.
“I don't know, I couldn't care too much,” he replied. “It’s a world title fight for me, that's what I'm in the game for, to fight the best. So whoever has that belt is the best, and I’ll need to beat them to get that belt.”
Tom Ivers is an amateur boxer who has a Master’s degree in sports journalism. He had his first bout in 2013, joined BoxingScene in 2024 and is now a key part of the UK and social media teams.
