Super Bowl week in Miami and a novel Irish-interest story plays its part in the build-up, as Dubliner Luke Keeler performs a leading role in one of the main curtain raiser's to the biggest day of the year in American sport.
On Sunday, the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami will host the NFL finale as the San Francisco 49ers take on the Kansas City Chiefs.
And just three days earlier, in the Sunshine State city, the WBO middleweight belt will be on the line as Pete Taylor-trained Keeler looks to upset the odds as he takes on reigning WBO world champion Demetrius Andrade.
Keeler is not only looking to land a world title at his first attempt, but should he win, the Ballyfermot boxer will find himself in illustrious company in Irish fight folklore as he would make up a trio of champions, with Steve Collins and Andy Lee having also worn the belt during their careers.
To say that Keeler is a massive underdog is perhaps still an understatement as he heads Stateside to take on one of the reigning world champions with bookmakers giving the Dubliner little chance.
The champion is virtually being handed the victory before a glove has been laced, such are the odds on this one, but when the bigger picture is painted, all may not be as clear cut as it appears.
Keeler will embrace the underdog status, heading to Miami with nothing to lose, knowing that all the pressure sits on the home fighter’s shoulders.
There is no pressure on Andrade to win the contest – he is widely expected to do that – but there is certainly an expectation to entertain as he vies to be ranked alongside the current greats of the marquee middleweight division.
Canelo Alvarez, Genady Golovkin and Jermall Charlo are the real standout names in the division and while Andrade, or Boo Boo to his friends, is talking the talk about being at that same level, he has yet to put in a world class performance against a top operator.
Keeler earned his shot at the title thanks to a fine victory over Luis Arias in Belfast last summer, a worthy opponent who had previously gone twelve rounds with Daniel Jacobs, and while Andrade is considered another step up, the Irishman should certainly have no fear of standing toe-to-toe with the WBO champion.
The Dubliner is perhaps the wrong side of thirty and suffered two defeats back in 2015 and 2016, however, as a full-time professional, Keeler is relatively fresh as he has only really fully committed to his trade for the past two years.
A qualified engineer, Keeler attempted to juggle work inside and outside the ring, but since moving full time into the paid ranks, under the tutelage of Katie Taylor’s father, the improvement and consistency has been quite evident.
Andrade, to his credit, always looks as though he is moving along in third gear, only randomly unleashing a range of stylish combinations through his awkward southpaw stance.
Since moving up from super welterweight, Andrade secured the world title by claiming a vacant belt, rather than taking it from a champion, and his two defences thus far have been facile yet, at times, laboured.
The Rhode Island native works behind a strong right jab before exploding with a flurry of punches, which score well with the judges.
However, Boo Boo has a tendancy to miss with his big over the top and extravagant efforts and leaves himself both open and exposed.
No opponent has yet to capitalise when such opportunities have presented themselves, as the American is quick on his feet and fast to recover his poise, but the fact that he has been brought to the 12th round in all four of his middleweight fights suggest that he is lacking power at this weight.
Andrade will attempt to start this Super Bowl party in Miami with an early stoppage in his bid to entertain as he headlines a very attractive card on Thursday night, however, there is a real possibility that he has somewhat underestimated his opponent on this occasion.
Keeler, likewise, will look to start on the front foot and a lot will hinge on the outcome of the opening three minutes at the Island Gardens venue.
Both Keeler and Andrade put their respective opponents on the canvas in the first round of their previous bouts, so this opening stanza should certainly set the tone of this world title encounter.
Keeler will look to make than early statement, but you would imagine that he will also exercise a certain amount of caution in the early rounds in a bid to quieten the crowd and even get them to turn on the champion if he is not entertaining and exciting.
And the 32-year-old is well able to thwart a full-on attack as he showed in recent bouts against former European champion Conrad Cummings who is an all-out front-foot fighter.
Cumming came up on the coattails of Carl Frampton and big things were expected of the Tyrone middleweight, yet Keeler made him look decidedly average in the first of their two meetings, while also easily outpointing him in the return fight.
Should Keeler get through the first two or three rounds relatively unscathed, expect to see the best of the Dublin fighter who possesses a really attractive style of fighting, standing strong to his opponent, yet remaining elusive and very capable of unloading off his back foot.
Andrade, meanwhile, will surely adapt accordingly and should he find himself in a tougher fight than expected, he may well revert to type and look to secure a points victory, coasting through the scheduled 12-round contest.
Should that occur, Keeler will really need to control the tempo in this fight and maintain a fast pace in the later rounds as there have been question marks over Andrade's stamina in the championship rounds, and while neither are renowned as knock-out artists, the stoppage may be the Dubliner’s only real shot at glory considering boxing judges’ penchant for hometown fighters and belt holders.
As mentioned at the outset, Keeler has nothing to lose from this fighting chance at glory on Thursday, yet the amount that he gains from the outcome depends on how he performs on the top of a very high-profile card.
Remarkably, there are two other world title fights happening on this Super Bowl showpiece in Miami with Tevin Farmer – conquerer of James Tennyson and Jono Carroll – defending his super featherweight title, while Daniel Roman – the man who took TJ Doheny’s world title – defending two super bantamweight belts.
And yet the bout that is deemed the co-headline fight of the night is the meeting of YouTubers Jake Paul and Ali Eson Gib.
This reason alone shows why Andrade is under so much pressure to entertain, in an industry that has re-imagined itself to equate boxing ability and the ability to put on a show as equal partners when it comes to the purse.
Likewise, Keeler knows that if he can tick those two particular boxes, irrespective of the actual results on the scorecards, and as proved recently by Spike O’Sullivan and Dennis Hogan, that the American audience will appreciate the efforts and will want to see more.
Remarkably, Keeler was thrown into that middle ground between boxing and box office in recent months when he offered some choice words to Conor McGregor following an incident in a Dublin pub, sparking rumours of a fight between boxer and mixed martial artist.
In this era of celebrity scrapping, perhaps his fellow Dublin native will be looking on with added interest on Thursday night.
