Spike O'Sullivan: ‘I just know it’s my destiny’

More than two decades have passed since an 11-year-old kid walked the 10 minutes from Páirc Uí Chaoimh to his mother’s house in Mahon and visualised his future self making that same journey with a world title belt hanging over his shoulder.

Gary O’Sullivan, known then and now as Spike, admits it was fantasy stuff, inspired by what he had just witnessed in the famous old GAA stadium, where Steve Collins had beaten Chris Eubank for a second time. But now, 20 years down the line, that vision is starting to come into focus.

After eight years as a professional, the middleweight finds himself within only a few wins of that old dream coming true. Most incredibly, the man standing in his way is Eubank’s son.