Eamonn O’Kane will jet out to Milan today as he seeks to strike a deal which will see him represent the Italian city in amateur boxing’s World Series.

The innovative tournament, which has teams across three conferences, in Asia, the Americas and Europe kicked off last year with the semi-finals and finals taking place in April.

Already, John Joe Nevin has been a hit with the Paris side, while Olympic silver medallist Kenny Egan is making waves in Florida.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist O’Kane still has his sights on turning professional, with his licence coming through on February 19, but will cash in boxing for Milan, who are eager for him to box as soon as possible.

O’Kane said: “It’s not something that I had planned but over Christmas I was offered a contract which I turned down and then they came back with a better offer.

“So, the deal is good and it’s a great opportunity to face the best in the world. It’s a good way to get ready for the professional game because you don’t have a vest or a headguard and you box five three-minute rounds, there’s three judges and no computer — and you get paid.

“They want me over for a trial period of a week and that works both ways. We have agreed terms and if the set-up suits us both then I’ll sign and I could be boxing against Paris as soon as January 14.

“I’ve been watching some of the World Series on the Internet and it looks great and I’m really looking forward to the challenge, assuming all goes well next week.

“Chances like this don’t come along too often.”