The hastily arranged 12-round junior welterweight fight will act as the chief support to Jazza Dickens' WBA junior lightweight title defence against Anthony Cacace.

When he was offered the chance to step in and replace the stricken Mark Chamberlain, Hughes didn’t need to drag himself off the couch and stand on the scales before giving an answer.

Although a few extra weeks' notice would have been ideal, Hughes is as ready as possible. Last month, he spent a full week in Belfast sparring Colm Murphy who boxes Jono Carroll on Saturday’s undercard.

He may not have had to force himself through a gruelling training camp but has had to make some sacrifices.

“I do live quite well, I don't binge, I don't really drink or eat a lot of crap. The only real major change I've had to make, which I don't like doing, is every night I like a treat,” Hughes (29-8-2, 6 KOs) told The Ring.

“I have Greek yoghurt, honey and fruit. Now that I'm making weight, I can only have 150 grams a day whereas normally I’ll have half a tub of it. That's the biggest change to my night-time routine I've had to make.”

The explosive O’Leary (18-0, 10 KOs) had spent months preparing for the tall, heavy-handed Chamberlain but has instead been handed the tricky task of pinning down the clever Hughes.

Hughes is a southpaw but - style-wise - that is where the similarities between he and the upright Chamberlain end.

Hughes is a clever sniper who can either frustrate or put his punches together in accurate sharp bursts. The 36-year-old Yorkshireman is effective on the inside, outside and is extremely experienced.

O’Leary grew up in the shadow of the 3Arena and his homecoming has become something of a local event.

Rather than protecting their ticket seller and importing an unknown opponent when Chamberlain withdrew, Queensberry decided that O’Leary is ready for a quality opponent and called Hughes.

Hughes isn’t quite sure why he was selected but he is delighted to have been given his chance.

“I'm not 100% sure on that sort of circumstance,” he said.

“I don't know if they've said, ‘We've got you a fight. This is what you're doing. It's a big show. You've sold a load of tickets so it's this opponent or nothing or we drop you down to a six-round keep busy fight’ which obviously, he's not going to do, is he? I'm sure he's going to be in boxing to have the big fights anyway.

“I don't really know him personally. I don't know what his mindset is around it but ultimately, the fight is happening, isn't it? So, whether he's wanted it or not, he hasn't got a choice.”

In December, Hughes travelled to Dubai for a WBA title eliminator against Russia's unbeaten Bakhodor Usmanov.

The trip turned into a disaster. Hughes' longtime trainer Sean O’Hagan suffered a heart attack hours before the fight and Hughes admits his mind drifted from the task at hand.

He was still competitive but lost a majority decision.

A few weeks ago, Hughes was considering travelling to Europe for a low-profile six round fight before looking for a return to championship action this summer.

Although he would have preferred more notice, fighting somebody like O’Leary on a major show offers him an unexpected but welcome shortcut.

Hughes knows that he faces a stiff task this weekend but he is mentally prepared for what lies ahead.

“The fact that he's strong and he can punch with the left hook, that's sort of what I needed because Usmanov in Dubai didn't really give me any fear whatsoever,” he said.

“I knew he couldn't hurt me and I feel like a little bit of that reflected in my performance whereas with Jovanni Straffon a couple of years ago, I knew he could really punch so it just kept me sharper. It gave me that edge thinking, ‘Keep switched on’ and that's what Pierce has got.

“It's those kind of edges which bring the best out of me.”