Michael Carruth, irrespective of the outcome, will be engaged in the fight of his life here in Aachen in Germany tonight [9 p.m. Irish time]. Some may say that a similar fight took place in Barcelona over five years ago when Carruth won Ireland's only gold boxing medal in the history of the sport.

Carruth's opponent is Michael Loewe, a Romanian resident in Germany. There is little support for the premise that this is a real WBO welterweight championship world title fight.

This is dismissed totally by Carruth's father, Austin, who says that without question, the two best welterweights in the world will be in the ring tonight.

It must be conceded that neither contestant is well known in the boxing world. That is surely due to the proliferation of so many so-called boxing associations - five or six at the last count. Boxing has become a money-making racket and has consequently attracted individuals uninterested in the sport.

That is not, however, what Michael Carruth is about. His victory in the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 against all the odds has given him the opportunity to become a world figure in professional boxing and he has tried to make the best of it.

Yesterday he was being as coy as ever when asked about his financial affairs and his position in the Army, from which he has been given leave of absence. "I am totally focused on tonight's fight . And all of these matters will have to be discussed after the verdict. Naturally enough I am going to win and after that I will decide what I am going to do with the rest of my life. It is clear to me that it is very important for me to win on Saturday night and I have to concentrate totally on that and later to decide how things turn out," he said.

His father, Austin, who will be in his corner tonight, said that he had no doubts. "Michael is in the best condition he has ever been in. I believe that it will not go the full 12 rounds and I don't believe that it will go the distance but we haven't, under any circumstances, ruled out the fact that Michael Loewe is a very serious boxer who will not give up his title easily. It will be a very close contest indeed and I am confident that Michael will emerge from it as yet another world champion," he said. The young Dubliner seems very conscious of the fact that he has played third fiddle to other boxers like Steve Collins and Wayne McCullough in the last few years.

At 30 years old Michael Carruth may be seen as past his best. But given his weight at welter, and on the assumption that he can move up to light-middle or middle, it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that he could become a really significant figure on the world boxing stage. Nevertheless, tonight's contest will be a watershed for Michael Carruth. His victory in Barcelona set new standards for Irish boxing and he has carried that distinction with a great deal of dignity and he now carries it into the professional ring in the way he did not envisage at that time.