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Boxing

Spike O'Sullivan is 'one horrible b****rd' in the ring, says trainer

Cork’s finest returns to the ring on Saturday to defend his WBO International title against Billy Joe Saunders.

GARY ‘SPIKE’ O’SULLIVAN hits so hard that his trainer wears special pads when they’re working out in the gym.

The Cork middleweight (16-0, 10 KOs) puts his unbeaten record and WBO International title on the line this weekend against Billy Joe Saunders.

The showdown is one of the main undercard bouts on the “Behind Enemy Lines” bill, headlined by the clash of Dereck Chisora and Malik Scott.

Belfast’s Carl Frampton is also in action in Wembley Arena on Saturday night, defending his IBF Intercontinental title against Everth Briceno.

For 29-year-old O’Sullivan, the high-profile billing is a chance to make a major breakthrough and stake his claim for a world title shot.

He is currently ranked fourth in the world by the WBO but against Saunders, he is very much the outsider and bookmakers are pricing him as high as 11/2 to spring a shock.

“Spike has every quality required to be a world champion,” trainer Paschal Collins, brother of former world super-middleweight champion Steve, told boxing writer Glynn Evans.

Out of the ring, he’s a real gentleman but inside he’s one horrible bastard. Whenever I used to spar my brother, though we’re very close, he’d always try to knock me out. Spike’s exactly the same if I’m stupid enough to stick the gloves on with him.

He’s blessed with real concussive power in both hands. In addition to our Steve, I’ve sparred Frankie Liles and neither hit close to as hard as Spike O’Sullivan does. I need to wear special mitts when we’re doing our pad work.

Collins is full of respect for 2008 Beijing Olympian Saunders. Since leaving the amateur ranks to turn pro, the 23-year-old has won all 17 of his bouts including 10 knockouts.

Despite his obvious class, O’Sullivan’s camp are confident that they can target his weaknesses.

“Billy Joe’s real class, one of the very best out there. He’s a handsome kid who could eventually be as big as Joe Calzaghe.

“However, when I speak to knowledgeable boxing guys like my brother and Freddie Roach about Billy Joe, we’ve all identified the same mistake, one common flaw. In camp, we’ve been working on forcing Billy into make that mistake and then nailing him.

Billy Joe is a good kid and we’d rather it wasn’t him we have to fight but we need this scalp to move Spike forward. We might not be able to beat him in a year’s time.

Jimmy Tibbs is a very good trainer who I respect hugely and know that he could eventually iron out the faults that exist. But we’re very confident that we can beat Billy Joe now.

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