It was the summer of 2012 and Eric Donovan didn’t know who he’d be sharing his office with from one day to the next.
Joe Duffy and John Creedon became regular co-workers.
And on that famous August evening, 10 years ago this week, when Katie Taylor won gold at the London Olympics, he stood next to Miriam O’Callaghan as Amhran na bhFiann rang out.
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Donovan was a top amateur boxer at the time. His own Olympic dream was dashed when he broke his hand in a scuffle at a house party.
But he still had a role to play.
RTE snapped him up for punditry duty thanks to a good word put in by the late great Jimmy Magee.
And it was Donovan’s excellent analysis between rounds that helped RTE Radio One listeners feel like they were in the middle of the action.
His work even earned the Athy native - who turned pro in 2016 and fights for a European title next month - a promotion to the TV studio for the Rio and Tokyo Games.
“Marty Morrissey was in London and he was on lead comms,” he explained, when asked where he watched Katie’s historic gold medal win a decade ago.
“I was the analyst. I made my debut that year with RTE and I was in the radio studios, watching the fights on TV.
“Between rounds they would come to me and check up on what my view was on the fight.
“It was all brand new to me. I had my own kind of, what would you say, personal grievances with missing out on the London Olympics.
“I could have been, should have been there, whatever. So I was dealing with that.
“But also, I enjoyed the punditry and analysis side of it as well, because I had an insight into it and I knew the whole boxing environment. I knew them all.
“It was good that I was involved in that way.
“It was a very proud moment for me, looking at all of my fellow teammates winning medals, like John Joe Nevin, Michael Conlon and Paddy Barnes.
“It was a very successful Olympics.”
As for Katie’s triumph, he recalled: “I remember standing in the radio studio. I was there with Miriam O’Callaghan for Katie’s final.
“There were days when I could be on with John Creedon or Joe Duffy; whoever was the Radio One presenter at the time.
“They’d be hosting their show and then they’d take a little break… ‘Okay, we’re going to the fight’.
“That’s the thing about the London Olympics, they went for full broadcasting on TV and radio, they did a big broadcast.
“So I didn’t know whose studio I’d be in from day to day.
“I’d have to interrupt them every day, but they were all so welcoming and hospitable.
“They’d be, like, ‘Ah, here’s Eric again, we are going to go to the boxing in a minute’.
“I remember standing up in the studio, myself and Miriam O’Callaghan, for Katie Taylor’s medal ceremony.
“Amhran na bhFiann was playing and we were standing to attention. It was just a really special moment.”
Was Miriam a big Katie fan?
“Everybody was a Katie fan,” Donovan replied.
“It was Katie-mania then. Sure look, everyone is a boxing fan when the Olympics come around anyway.”
Donovan continued fighting for another year, taking part in the World Series of Boxing with Kazakhstan team Astana Arlans before leaving boxing to return to education.
“I kind of felt like I needed a bit more security and I started looking at life a little bit differently,” he said.
“I realised that education was something I sacrificed early on in life. I opened my mind to the possibility of going back down that road.
“I went back into third level education in 2013 and graduated in 2015 with a diploma in counselling and psychotherapy.”
But the lure of the ring was too strong.
“2016 was the year I was going to go for my degree, but I decided I could always come back and do my degree, but I couldn’t always come back and box,” he said.
“So I came out of semi-retirement. I was never officially retired, but I wasn’t competing. I came out of a three-year sabbatical in the summer of 2016 when I decided to go pro.
“I had a goal of winning an Irish title, but I managed that a long time ago, so I raised the bar a little bit and said a European title would be the icing on the cake.
“Finally I have landed that dream shot. It’s all leading to September 24 in Belfast, the Europa Hotel.”
Donovan will face French star Khalil EI Hadri at the Europa Hotel in Belfast on Saturday September 24 September for the EU super-featherweight title.
“I have a great chance, I have a brilliant chance,” said the 37-year-old.
“There is no doubt about it that I am up against a very tough opponent.
“He is the French champion and France is a very strong boxing nation. And he comes to the table with a very respectable record - 13 wins, one loss.
“I’m going to have to produce a very good performance to beat him, but I know I have the beating of him. I know I have it in my locker to come up trumps.
“I believe in myself, I am very confident, I lost two big fights in my career against two very highly qualified professional fighters, two top-10 world-level fighters.
“But this fighter is a very good fighter. I am taking it very seriously, I am training hard and I am so happy to be able to have the fight on Irish soil.
“I have never had the luxury of having a big promotional backing behind me because of my circumstances.
“I was 31, I was in retirement for three years, so a lot of my fights have been on the road.
“But I’ve got great sponsors - BearingPoint, Novo Technologies, The Auld Shebeen, Smart Text, MYND Drinks - and a great team.
“They came together to win the bid to host this fight in Ireland and I am absolutely over the moon that we can do that.
“When you have a big fight like this, you want to try and get every edge you possibly can. To have it at home, I think, will give me that edge.”
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