Q&A: Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sulivan - ‘They all seem to understand me anyway… Maybe they’re afraid to say different!’

Having recorded three wins in the US since his 2015 loss to Chris Eubank Jr, Cork middleweight Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sulivan (25-2) has one of his biggest opportunities tonight when the 33-year-old Mahon native headlines a Golden Boy/Murphy’s Boxing fight card, live on two ESPN channels in the States, at the House of Blues, Boston

Q: You travelled to Boston earlier this week ahead of your fight against Liverpool’s Nick Quigley. Did you arrive safe and sound?

A: We did, but we had a really bad flight with turbulence. I flew with Delta for the first time, the crew gave me a night-mask and the earplugs and then it was happy days!

Q: Quigley (15-2) hasn’t fought in over a year-and-a-half (due to management

problems). Are you expecting the fight to be less stressful than the flight?

A: I’d say so, hopefully, with a bit of luck!

Q: It originally looked like you were set to fight former world-title challenger Gabriel Rosado. Quigley (a 29-year-old) was then drafted in. Has the change effected your preparation?

A: I think so but for the better. It’s a fight that I should win on paper. I’ve prepared hard because I don’t want to get beaten by Nick Quigley basically!

Q: You were probably looking forward to measuring yourself against Rosado, but you still have a big opportunity and

exposure? (ESPN3 & ESPN Deportes screen the bout live in the US)

A: It’s a great position to be in and one of the main positives is the promoters were adamant that they wanted me for the main event. They approached me back in May after my last fight and showed me a list of opponents and I agreed to all of them. They kept coming back to me until they got an opponent to agree to fight me, so they’re obviously keen to have me on the bill.

Q: Was Rosado not keen to fight you?

A: I’ve no idea. He claimed that he’d never heard of me. I’ve never met the man, but I’d be of the opinion that he’d probably fight anybody. He fought [world middleweight champion Gennady] Golovkin and [former IBF champion David] Lemieux, so I don’t see why he wouldn’t fight me. I don’t know if his team negotiated on his behalf and maybe he didn’t hear about it.

Q: Quigley’s career has been very up and down over the past few years — he got to a Prizefighter final back in 2011 and challenged for an English title a year later, but lost both. You’re bound to be confident?

A: Yeah, I am feeling confident it’d be fair to say… When I looked at him on YouTube I recalled him being in Prizefighter, so I saw a bit of him in that and I’m looking forward to it.

Q: Are you expecting a crowd-pleasing fight?

A: Yeah, I hope so. Stylistically he could very well suit me if he fights his usual fight. He’s a come-forward fighter, he throws a lot of punches and he’s all action, so let’s hope he doesn’t go running.

Q: You’ve had a few good fights (11) in the States, but this is probably your biggest in terms of exposure since the Eubank loss in London. A win should set up some more big fights?

A: Yeah, definitely. It’s a no-brainer to take it. ESPN is massive over here and I’m delighted with the opportunity… I’ve heard Rosado is fighting Glen Tapia now, so I might get to fight the winner of that, you wouldn’t know. I’d love a fight against Miguel Cotto! He’s going to have one more fight, I think, and he’s with Golden Boy as well.

There’s a big Irish community here and a big Puerto Rican community, Paschal [Collins, trainer] is good friends with [Cotto trainer] Freddie Roach and Ken Casey [promoter and frontman of Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys] has a good relationship with Golden Boy so they could put on a good show. You never know!

Q: You sported some old-school boxing tights and a waxed handlebar moustache for some recent fights — will they be back for this one?

A: I’m keeping the moustache, but I’ve a new surprise for my shorts! It’s like the McGregor and Mayweather hype, you need something to grab the interest of the ordinary fans as well as fight fans.

Q: Five of your last seven fights took place in or around Boston and New England. You seem to have built a name and a healthy following there?

A: Yeah, definitely. I went down to the café the other morning and they were all greeting me. One guy came up to me who bought me a lotto ticket on my first morning. I was in the Greenhills Bakery, it’s a very well-known place here, a lot of Irish go there, and they gave me my salad on the house. Another bloke didn’t hear that and he insisted that he wanted to pay for my food!

Q: How do the Cork and the Boston accents mix!? Any trouble understanding each other?

A: It’s fairly good. They all seem to understand me anyway… Maybe they’re afraid to say different! But they’re lovely people. There’s a load of Cork people here that emigrated and second and third generation Cork. There’s a Cork GAA club as well and I was presented with one of their kits.

Q: You must love Paschal (Collins, trainer) cheering Dublin’s All-Ireland double over the past few weeks?

A: Ha, for f**k sake… I’m sick of listening to him!

Q: Your Celtic Warriors gym-mates have been busy in the States recently — Niall Kennedy (Wexford heavyweight and full-time Garda) recently won his second pro title in Connecticut and Ray Moylette (Mayo light-welter, former European amateur champion) won a fairly dramatic fight on the undercard…

A: I’m sharing a house with Ray now, he fights again on the same bill as me. They both came through their last fights well. Definitely things are going well for the lads out here anyway. Niall was up against it and over the last four rounds he ground it out.

Q: Ray had a bit of drama in his last fight, getting up off the floor to win…. (Moylette fights again tonight against 63-bout Ohio veteran Michael Clark)

A: I was just chatting to him about it… He bit down on the gum-shield and got through it and that’s a great quality to have. You don’t know if you have it until it happens and he came back and won the fight, so it bodes well for him.

Q: Any craic with each other?

A: I don’t really like Ray, but Niall is sound! Ha, I’m only messing, they’re both sound. I give them unbelievable stick – particularly Niall, being a cop. I seem to attract speeding tickets and I’d be slating him over it. He’s always coming up with excuses for them!

Q: Their wins must create a good buzz in the gym and for the team?

A: Definitely, because we all do similar training and it’s good to see that it’s working, energy-wise and being able to sustain it and fight hard for 10 rounds. It’s very encouraging. It’s an individual sport, but it’s always been the way in our gym that’s it’s like a team.