SportBoxingO'Leary takes on Mark Chamberlain tonight in Dublin having left his home city six years ago to pursue his boxing dream in London06:00, 01 Aug 2026Pierce O'Leary will never look at a pub in the same way again.‌The Dubliner was 20 when he left home and made his way across the water with just £1,000 and a dream in his pocket. And as he stood outside a south London boozer, he wondered what he had let himself in for. "It was very hard to leave to go to London, especially when my partner was pregnant at the time," he said.‌"I flew to Gatwick and then went to Bromley, and the Uber cost me £50 which meant I only had £950 left for training camp! "But I stood in front of the pub and said to myself, 'I have to do this'. My room was appalling. I slept on the floor for a bit, then I got a mattress and after the mattress I got a bed. It was a proper Rocky story. I had to make it a home for myself because I was there for two-and-a-half years.‌"It was loud and the nights were restless. It wasn't for me but I wasn't in a position to rent in a nice area. It was character-building. I remember the first time I went into the city, to Leicester Square, with all the lights and the roads and I was amazed. I said, 'Oh my God, this is actually real. What's going on here?'"I was doing my own washing and had to start cooking for myself in the pub kitchen. I had to start weighing my food and understand micro-nutrients; what's good for you and what's bad for you.Article continues below"Then the landlord turned his bedrooms into a function suite to host parties so I had to bounce to another of his pubs. Eventually I moved to Liverpool and upgraded a two-bedroom house which had private gates in a private community. But then I downgraded again to one bedroom because I didn't need two. I thought I needed a two-bedroom for all the friends or family coming over, but no one ever came to visit me!"O'Leary, now 26, returns to Dublin tonight to take on Mark Chamberlain just 400 metres from where he grew up. And he insists he wouldn't change anything about his circular route back home. "There were no promoters here and no boxing," he added. "I had to make the move and go abroad. I went over there hoping it would all work out and if I was to do it now, I'd probably do it all again, because you can't buy the mindset it installed in me."Choose Daily Mirror as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.‌Mark ChamberlainGatwick AirportPregnancy