Former Irish amateur champion Eric Donovan is due to fight for his first professional title at the National Stadium on September 9th when he takes on Dai Davies.
He joined Saturday's Off the Ball to discuss preparations for the bout and speaking to Ger Gilroy, he said: "All the hard work is done, I'm feeling really good. Looking back over the camp - very happy with what I set out to achieve in the sparring. The strength and conditioning training I've completed and the hard road work and and all the general boxing drills.
"So this week here now is all about losing the weight and just small sessions, short explosive sessions and getting the head right, fine tuning, all the hard work is done. It's mental preparation this week and the weight-cut.
The Kildare man endures a difficult weight-cut and speaking about the struggle, he said: "My brother often says when 'you lose the four or five pound that you have to lose, you'll be reported missing!' It's a real toughie alright but I'm weighing in on Friday and so I'll wait until Wednesday/Thursday to do the last big cut which will be about four pounds.
"The whole idea there is I can't make my weight without being severely dehydrated. So, the whole idea is to be severely dehydrated for the least amount of time as possible and then get back up and rehydrated. I'll weigh in at 9 stone and box at 9 stone 10lbs the following night.
Ireland's 2010 European boxing medal winners (left,right) Tyrone McCullagh, bronze medalist, Kenny Egan, bronze medalist, Paddy Barnes, gold medalist, Darren O'Neill, silver medalist, and Eric Donovan, bronze medalist, at the Irish Embassy in Moscow. Image: ©INPHO/Cathal Noonan
"I'm only a pro a year but there's big guys like Andy Lee and Ryan Burnett...these guys would give you pointers as well. I used to think as an amateur, which you did, as an amateur you had to be on-weight all the time or very, very close to it, maybe 3lbs/4lbs over your weight.
"But, Ryan Burnett was telling me that he loses 7 or 8lbs in the last two days. So the idea is that he's strong and healthy for all his sparring, all his major work and then when he's not sparring or doing any major boxing drills - he takes the weight down," he added.
The full interview can be heard here:
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