O’Sullivan lined up for world title eliminator

It’s been a week of contrasting fortunes for Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan.

The Cork native saw the defence of his IBO international middleweight title against Liverpool’s Joe Selkirk fall through on Monday.

Then, 24 hours later, it emerged he will now appear in a world title eliminator this summer. It is a long overdue good news story for a man whose career had stalled due to a handful of cancelled bouts.

The identity of his opponent was not revealed but manager and trainer Paschal Collins said he will face a “highly-ranked UK-based fighter” — with Billy Joe Saunders being touted.

Southpaw Saunders (17-0) fought for Great Britain in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and is the current British and Commonwealth middleweight champion.

“I was disappointed when I heard [about] it [Selkirk],” said O’Sullivan who boasts a 15-0 record, “but every cloud has a silver lining and this is a case of one door opening where another closes.”

O’Sullivan will first fight on the May 3 card at the Carlton Hotel in Tyrrelstown, Dublin where Stephen Ormond will face Hungary’s Istvan Kiss over 12 rounds for the vacant WBU lightweight title.