JACK Marley isn’t your typical 21-year-old. The second he walks into a room, you know it. You feel it.
That is not just because of the imposing physical frame that will see him become the first Irish heavyweight to compete at an Olympic Games since Cathal O’Grady at Atlanta ‘96. Though that helps.
No, there is something more; something not quite tangible. A calmness beyond his tender years, a rare kind of confidence exuded. Maybe even a bit of pure Dublin strut.
When he arrives at the press day to face a table full of journalists, Marley leans back in his chair, ready to roll with the punches - those bright blue eyes staring right back at the inquisition. Bring it on, hit me with your best shot.
The attention runs off him like water. He’s used to it, of course. Ireland is not renowned for producing big men, so word spread fast when Marley’s slick skills caught the eye on the way up.
Joe Ward was last to capture the imagination in such fashion, and the Westmeath man was on hand to offer words of advice and encouragement at the end of recent spars.
Held behind closed doors in Abbotstown, those explosive sessions were a joy to behold according to reliable sources stood open-mouthed at ringside.
“I’ve learned a lot off Joe - we’ve both got a lot of things from the sparring, it’s been great.
“[Irish head coach] Zaur [Antia] made sure I chatted to him for five or 10 minutes after every spar. I tried to learn as much as I can because he is flooded with knowledge for boxing. It seeps out of him.
“He’s the best-ever Irish male amateur, like. He’s top class.”
Marley has not had to deal with the same level of expectation that followed Ward in the wake of his epic Irish final dethroning of Olympic silver medallist Kenny Egan, but the hype is building.
Winning gold at the European U22 Championships two years ago, 12 months after bring home bronze, marked him out as one to watch. But, even with all the support that talent ID brings, it can take time to bridge the gap to elite level, especially for the big boys.
In the days before Olympic qualification - sealed courtesy of a silver medal at last summer’s European Games, put Marley on decent funding - he was “bating around” on the weekend, delivering flowers, doing a bit of landscaping at times.
Whatever it took to make ends meet.
“I tried to sign on the dole for a while but they threw me off that quick enough,” he smiles.
“I was unpaid for the first year, year-and-a-half in the high-performance unit, so you do take that risk. It has obviously paid off for me but we are blessed because everything is taken care of for us.
“It’s not like we’re in some shanty town with the worst facilities in the world. It’s a state-of-the-art institution. If you don’t take full advantage of it, you’re silly.
“And I didn’t know any different. I was coming straight out of school. I was in the second Leaving Cert year after Covid so we had an option to sit the exams or get predicted grades and it was four weeks before the Leaving Cert when I got invited in here by [former Irish high performance director] Bernard [Dunne] to potentially go to the first U22 Europeans.
“I just said ‘f**k it, like, why not?’ so I took predicted grades. So I still have a Leaving Cert and I still got to come in here, which was the dream. I didn’t want to go to college or pursue anything else. I wanted to box full-time. I wanted it to be my job and here I am now.
“I took that leap and I have been here ever since.”
Even since securing his Olympic spot, Marley knows he remains on a learning curve – the steepest stretch of which, he hopes, will come in the next fortnight, starting against Poland’s Mateusz Bereznicki in their last 32 clash on Sunday.
And if harsh words have been required at any stage, that is no problem either.
“It’s grand. I want to be adult about it. I want to be told straight out. I don’t want to be mollycoddled or babied. Sometimes you might be shouted out to get it across…”
It is for all those tough days in the gym that Marley is soaking up everything coming his way now.
And, after returning from Poland last summer, he was only too delighted to play hard before getting back on board with preparation for the big one.
“I went on the piss, that’s what I done - I’m not going to lie to you. I celebrated it and celebrated it hard. I had nothing until the Irish seniors so took the summer off and enjoyed myself… it’s all about balance.
“Everyone has their own mindset but then they are also coming back into a lot of media and stuff and what we did a year ago and that can be easy or hard on people. I’m delighted I got to do it so early. I got to enjoy the process over a full year… it’s been perfect.”
And ahead of schedule too. Marley admits he didn’t have his “heart set” on Olympic qualification so early in his career but, after watching from close quarters while the Tokyo crew prepared for their Far Eastern adventure, his appetite was whetted.
Now, having emerged as one of the leaders in a tightly-knit group, what happens from here rests firmly on his shoulders.
“It was hectic when I first came in and, when Bernard headed out through that door, the floor went quiet. You just knew he was on the floor.
“There would be two lads sparring and then Bernard would come out and the next minute the sparring picks up with lads killing each other. I walked into it when the kitchen was hot.
“Everyone has their own opinion, their own sense of hope going into the Games… I’m happy people have their own thing and it’s not like I’ll be meeting everyone and they’ll be telling me what they’re thinking - I know what I am thinking.
“I am going there to perform and be the best version of Jack Marley I can be in that first fight. That’s all I’m working on.
“I don’t feel expectations on me - I feel it in how people support me so much.”
