The financial rewards may not be that high, but winning a European title in Belfast on Saturday night would leave Eric O'Donovan more than happy.
O'Donovan will step into the ring at the Europa Hotel to take on Khalil El Hadri for the vacant European Union super featherweight title. (Live on TG4 from 7.30pm).
The Kildare boxer, who turned 37 last month, has won 15 of his 17 professional bouts since joining the paid ranks in 2016, with his only defeats coming against Zelpa Barrett and double Olympic gold medallist Robeisy Ramirez.
French national champion El Hadri boasts a 13-1 record.
O'Donovan will have spent 11 weeks preparing for this weekend's showdown, time that has been used well, as he outlined to Marie Crowe on RTÉ's Game On.
"I've put in a serious training camp and I know it's an old cliché when I say it's the best camp, but it really has been the best camp," he said.
"I wasn't able to run after my last two training camps with a tendon on the back of my right leg but I was able to get the running session in for this camp, that is a massive difference. I got plenty of sparring, got sparring over in England. I went to new lengths to prepare for this, sparred with top-class professionals. I have left no stone unturned, just have to go out and deliver.
"My strength in confidence comes from my preparation. From the start of my training camp till the end it has been 11 weeks. This week is a tapering week, tapering down. Ten weeks of solid work, good strength and conditioning, good boxing, good running, everything went well.
"You need things to go in your favour, you need things to align for you, managed to avoid injuries. I just have to get out there and do the job on Saturday night."
On what his opponent is likely to bring on Saturday, O'Donovan added: "He's a French champion and a very solid opponent. He's going to present a challenge with 13 wins and one loss; I have 15 wins and two losses so we're kind of evenly matched there. He's 27, so I'm ten years his senior, and people will say that that could work in his favour. But I'm a young 37 and I treat my body and my mind very, very well, have led a good, healthy life and I've trained very, very hard.
"I know that I'm going to be tested and he will push me to the brink."
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
In the course of an honest interview , O'Donovan did allude to darker days in his earlier life, missed opportunities in the ring and why a European title would now bring about a sense of fulfilment.
He continued: "The desire is to fulfil an ambition. I really did slip up during my amateur days; I left a few things behind me. I was dealing with a lot of emotional and mental health problems which were very hard to address at the time. I didn't know how to address them, maybe I wasn't equipped to deal with the struggle I had in my life until much later.
"I can't go back and change it; you can only have control over the present. Right now I'm trying to make the days count, fulfil an ambition which is to become a European champion. I'm only a few days away from that and I genuinely believe I'm capable of doing it.
"There are not a whole lot of rewards in it, financially. For me it's never been about money or fame, it's been about fulfilment, reaching a goal, making amends and righting a few wrongs. I'm within touching distance - one more big performance from me and I'll be pretty content."
As the end of his boxing career nears, O'Donovan seems to be in a good space.
"I'm so happy in my life right now. My wife Laura is expecting our first child together and I've two sons as well. Laura said to me the other day 'we're living the best days of our lives'. We really are. The fact that I'm boxing for a European title on Saturday night is incredible, it's extraordinary. I like to live an extraordinary life, challenge myself and take risks.
"Boxing, for me, is different today. I'm doing it because I love it. There are no hidden agendas, I'm not doing it because I'm trying to hold on to some boxing status, credibility or integrity, I'm doing it because I can and I'm doing it because I want to.
"When boxing is over, and it will happen soon enough, there are so many exciting things I can get involved in, so many exciting directions that we can go as a family.
"I'm looking forward to enjoying all of that and getting stuck into it. I'm very content and very happy."
