Portsmouth pride’s fearless promise for blockbuster TV showdown
It’s a big moment for the Portsmouth favourite as he tops the DAZN bill against the IBO champ at a packed 3Arena tomorrow.
Mark Chamberlain has vowed to stun Irish boxing with a knockout show against Pierce O’Leary.
And the Waterlooville banger promised the partisan 3Arena crowd won’t faze him, as he steps into the bearpit to take on Dublin’s unbeaten darling in their IBO super-lightweight title showdown tomorrow night.
Chamberlain: ‘I have gloves and will travel, simple as that’
Chamberlain has been tasked with delivering a career highlight win against unbeaten O’Leary, in front of a ferocious home crowd.
Injury forced the 27-year-old former Team Wiseman boxer out of their scheduled contest in March, but now the pair collide in a mouth-watering top-of-the-bill showdown on DAZN.
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Unbeaten champion O’Leary goes into the battle a clear favourite in what will be an electric evening, but former senior ABA champ Chamberlain brings his renowned concussive power to the equation.
And now he’s vowed to make O’Leary feel his strength and silence the raucous thousands backing their man in the Irish capital.
Chamberlain said: ‘Saturday is another big occasion, but it’s not something I haven’t seen before by coming into the champion’s back garden and take what’s theirs.
‘It’s the definition of “I have gloves and I will travel”, it’s a simple as that.
‘Saturday night brings me to the 3Arena and I’m looking forward to it. It’s great to have these opportunities.
‘We’ve trained hard and we’ve done our homework, so we’ll put it in on the night from the first bell.
‘It was meant to happen first time around, so I guess we’ve just had longer to prepare for the fight: it’s going to be a knockout show!’
O’Leary dismissed Chamberlain’s knockout prediction and believes he’s now a far-improved version of what the world has seen so far.
He feels his backing on the night is going to offer him a significant advantage.
When asked if Chamberlain will knock him out, O’Leary said: ‘No chance, no chance is it happening. I’m going to do a proper job on him.
‘They’re all coming on Saturday night, so massive thanks to the supporters - I’m Dublin’s son.
‘I’ve visualised it so much and I’ve looked at Katie Taylor and Bernard Dunne’s walkouts.
‘I’ve visualised what I’m going to do. There’s nothing like fighting in Dublin - it’s priceless.
‘Mark says he’s been studying me, but he’s studying the wrong person. The way we’ve prepared in the gym is special.
‘People have only seen 30 per cent of me, so I need to go out and put on a fantastic performance.
‘The camp has been very intense. The only chance Mark had was the last fight - and he still wouldn’t have beat me. So he’s not going to beat me this time.’