Gary 'Spike' O'Sullivan was delighted to see Dennis Hogan become a world champion over the weekend - but now wants the opportunity to take the belt off him.
Kildare native Hogan defeated England's Sam Eggington in Newcastle, Australia, on Saturday to claim the IBO super welterweight strap in what was his third world title fight.
Speaking after his win, the 37-year-old, who is based Down Under, stated that his preference was to defend the belt against Spike on Irish soil, and the Corkman is fully behind that idea.
O'Sullivan told The Irish Mirror: "I've great time for Dennis and I was delighted to see him become a world champion. I've seen some of the videos of him celebrating with his daughter, that's something I can relate to, and it's great to see.
"We've known each other a long time. We would have sparred together and there's huge mutual respect between us.
"It's a fight that would be great to happen. Two Irish fighters fighting for a world title in Ireland would be brilliant."
Although somewhere in Ireland is obviously the ideal location for the bout to take place, O'Sullivan is happy to travel wherever he needs to for the fight to happen, with nine of his last 12 contests having taken place in America, with another of them being held in Canada.
He added: "I'll travel wherever I need to for it to happen. I don't mind going to America or Australia or wherever. Dennis is the champion so he'll call the shots.
"Eggington would have probably suited me better from a style point of view, Dennis is more tactical. I'm always looking for the knockout. People see me as a big puncher, but others have told me I can be tactical too so that's something we might need to look at."
One place where the bout could be staged is on the undercard of Katie Taylor's rematch with Amanda Serrano, if that fight goes ahead at Croke Park next year.
"That would be brilliant," stated O'Sullivan, whose last fight ended in defeat against WBA world middleweight champion Erislandy Lara in Brooklyn back in May.
He added: "The last person to fight at Croke Park was Muhammad Ali so it would be history and it would be great to be a part of it.
"It would be an amazing event and there's so many good Irish fighters out there who could make it a massive card. Boxing fans in Ireland deserve a big show like that."
O'Sullivan is a little over a year older than Hogan and believes that both men doing so well in the latter stages of their careers can be inspirational to younger fighters.
He explained: "I remember when I was younger and all I had was seven cents to my name but Packie Collins kept telling me to stick with it and he was right.
"I remember ringing him and saying 'I have a trade, I might just go back to it', but he told me to stick with it and it was right decision."
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