By Niall Doran

Speaking ahead of the bumper "Return Of The Mack" bill at the 3 Arena in Dublin on Saturday night (live on Sky Sports), Eddie Hearn was in passionate form and very much excited about bringing big time boxing to Ireland.

"I can't wait, we've seen from the first press conference to that one there what it means to people," said Hearn when speaking to BoxingScene.  "Fights like 'Spike' [Gary O'Sullivan] against Fitz' [Anthony Fitzgerald], I'm not saying it's Canelo [Saul Alvarez] against [Miguel] Cotto but it's got just as much energy, just as much passion and means just as much to these guys.  You saw it there (at the head-to-head), it's getting a little bit close to the mark—there' plenty on the line."

The main event on the night that sees Irishman Matthew Macklin and Argentinian Jorge Sebastian Heiland clash in a WBC World Title Eliminator.  Hearn stressed the importance of the fight for a number of reasons.  He said: "Matthew Macklin is in a really really tough fight.

"I think sometimes people don't realise what sort of fight he's in.  It's a proper, proper fight against Heiland.  It's a must win fight and actually, there's a lot of pressure on him not just for his own career but for Irish boxing because ultimately if he loses, where's the headline act?  So he must win on Satuday and we need the crowd to get behind him."

Regarding betting odds on the Macklin vs Heiland fight being heavily in favour of the Irish man, how bookmakers in general come up with betting odds in boxing and how they don't always necessarily reflect how he promotes bouts as being fifty fifty, Hearn stated: "Quite simply they don't want to take risks and they don't want to take money on something like a 3/1 or 4/1 on shot, so they just make it something like 16/1.

"It's quite simple.  I see this fight, Macklin against Heiland as a 60/40.  That's how I see it.  What is it at the moment, 7/1, 6/1 or something like that?  It's madness, in a two horse race, if your going by Macklin's last fight compared to this guy's form."

No doubt all questions will be answered on Saturday night, ahead of what promises to be a truly special night for Irish boxing.