Michael Conlan (boxer)

Michael John Conlan (born 19 November 1991) is an Irish[1] professional boxer. He challenged for the IBF featherweight title in 2023 and the WBA (Regular) featherweight title in 2022. As an amateur, he reached number one in the AIBA bantamweight world rankings,[2] with achievements that include a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics and gold at the 2015 World Championships. He has been one of Ireland's most successful amateur fighters of all time.[3] He turned professional in 2016 after misgivings with the amateur sport, and had his first bout in 2017.

Michael Conlan
Conlan at Web Summit in Dublin, 2015
Statistics
Nickname(s)Mick
Weight(s)
Height5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Reach69 in (175 cm)
NationalityIrish
Born (1991-11-19) 19 November 1991
Belfast, Northern Ireland
StanceSwitch
Boxing record
Total fights20
Wins18
Wins by KO9
Losses2
Medal record
Representing  Ireland
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place2012 LondonFlyweight
World Amateur Championships
Gold medal – first place2015 DohaBantamweight
European Amateur Championships
Gold medal – first place2015 SamokovBantamweight
Silver medal – second place2013 MinskFlyweight
Representing  Northern Ireland
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place2014 GlasgowBantamweight

Early life

Conlan was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. His father and coach, John, hails from Drimnagh, Dublin.[4] His elder brother, Jamie, was also a professional boxer.

Amateur career

Conlan won his first Ulster novice title at the age of 11, and is a three-time Irish national flyweight champion.[5] In his debut match at the 2012 Olympics, he defeated Ghanaian boxer Duke Micah, having received a bye in the first round.[6] In the quarter final, he defeated French boxer Nordine Oubaali by 22–18, guaranteeing himself a bronze medal.[7][8] Conlan lost his semi-final bout against Cuba's Robeisy Ramírez, who went on to win gold in the final.[9][10]

After the Olympics, Conlan would go on to win a silver medal at the 2013 European Championships in Minsk, losing to Welsh boxer Andrew Selby by 1:2.[11]

Conlan moved up from flyweight to bantamweight and on 2 August 2014 he won the gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, beating England's Qais Ashfaq. Conlan won despite only returning to training two weeks prior following an injury.[12][13]

2015 started off with Conlan competing in the World Series of Boxing for Italia Thunder. Conlan and his teammate, fellow Irish boxer Paddy Barnes, would compete in seven fights over 14 weeks in an effort to try and secure qualification for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Conlan racked up five wins out of seven, which was just enough for him to finish second in the individual ranking and secure an Olympic berth in Rio.

In August 2015 Conlan won the European Championships at bantamweight and scooped Boxer of the Tournament. He competed in four fights beating; French, Danish, Italian and Great Britain representatives. He only lost 3 rounds out of a possible 36 on individual judges' scorecards. His final was a repeat of the 2014 Commonwealth Games final against Great Britain's Qais Ashfaq. Conlan took the first in what was a very technical encounter, the Belfast man took the second on a split, by the third round the No.1 seed (Conlan) was in cruise control which saw him take the round and the fight unanimously to retain Ireland's hold on the European bantamweight title and the best boxer award (both of which John Joe Nevin won in 2013).

In October 2015, Conlan won the gold medal in the bantamweight division at the 2015 World Championships.[14] It was Ireland's first ever male World Championship gold medal.[15][16] In December 2015, Conlan was named as the RTÉ Sports Person of the Year for 2015.[17]

2012 Summer Olympics

Won bronze in the 2012 Summer Olympics at flyweight. Results were:

2013 European Championships

Won silver in the 2013 European Championships at flyweight. Results were:

  • Armenia Narek Abgaryan: Won (3:0)
  • Belarus Siarhej Loban: Won (TKO 2)
  • Russia Ovik Oganisyan: Won (2:1)
  • Wales Andrew Selby: Lost (1:2)

2014 Commonwealth Games

Conlan won Gold in the Commonwealth Games at bantamweight. Results were:

2015 European Championships

Conlan won Gold in the European Championships at bantamweight. Results were:

  • France Anthony Bret: Won (3:0)
  • Denmark Frederik Lundgaard Jensen: Won (3:0)
  • Italy Francesco Maietta: Won (3:0)
  • United Kingdom Qais Ashfaq: Won (3:0)

2015 World Championships

Conlan won Gold in the World Championships at bantamweight. Results were:

2016 Summer Olympics

Conlan lost at the quarter-finals stage in the 2016 Summer Olympics at bantamweight. Results were:

Professional career

Following the 2016 Olympics and his disillusionment with amateur boxing, Conlan reaffirmed his intentions of turning professional.[19] Despite interest from several big promotions and rumours of a deal being struck with Mayweather Promotions,[20] it was Top Rank who secured Conlan's signature.[21] On 23 September, Bob Arum confirmed that Conlan would be making his professional debut at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, on St. Patrick's Day.[22]

On 17 March 2017, Conlan won his first fight as a professional boxer, beating Tim Ibarra by a third round technical knockout (TKO) at the theatre at Madison Square Garden.[23][24]

On 3 August 2019, he fought Diego Alberto Ruiz. In front of a packed crowd in his hometown Belfast, Conlan continued his unbeaten streak in the pros and stopped his opponent in nine rounds.[25]

On 14 December, Conlan faced Vladimir Nikitin. It was a much anticipated bout, since Nikitin beat Conlan twice in the amateurs, including once at the Rio Olympics in 2016.[26] Conlan won comfortably on all three scorecards, 100–90, 99-91 and 98–92.[27]

In his next fight, Conlan squared off against Sofiane Takoucht. Conlan started the fight fast, and was dominant throughout most of the fight, assaulting Takoucht with numerous body shots. Some of Conlan's body shots were landing below the belt, for which he was deducted a point on two occasions. In the tenth round, Conlan was just too much for the Frenchman, and the referee stopped the fight, awarding Conlan the tenth-round TKO win.[28]

Conlan won his first bout at the super-bantam weight level on 30 April 2021, beating Ionut Baluta by a majority decision.[29]

Conlan returned to featherweight in his next bout, as he faced T. J. Doheny for the vacant WBA interim featherweight title on 6 August 2021.[30] Conlan won the fight by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring the fight 116–111 in his favor, while the third judge scored it 119–108 for him. He scored the sole knockdown of the bout in the fifth round, dropping Doheny with a strike to the body.[31]

Conlan remained in the featherweight level for his fight against Leigh Wood, the current WBA (Regular) featherweight title holder, on 12 March 2022. He started the fight brightly, scoring a knockdown on Wood in the first round and he continued to dominate until the later rounds when Wood came back into the contest more. Conlan went down in the 11th round, it was scored as a knockdown despite protests from Conlan's corner. In the 12th, with Conlan just being ahead on all the scorecards,[32] Wood improved again and 1:25 into the round he knocked out Conlan, with Conlan falling through the ropes and reportedly being rendered unconscious for "a minute or two".[33][34] He was quickly taken to hospital, Conlan since has said he is "all good" and his scans were "clear".[35]

On August 6, 2022, Conlan made his ring return at SSE Arena Belfast in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He faced three-time world title challenger Miguel Marriaga of Colombia. He won the fight by unanimous decision, scoring three knockdowns in Round 7, 8 and 9.[36]

Controversy

2016 Summer Olympics boxing

In the men's bantamweight quarterfinal stage of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Conlan was eliminated by a controversial call, in which Russia's Vladimir Nikitin was awarded the victory.[37] Conlan reacted by raising his middle finger at the judges and delivering a strongly-worded live television interview to RTÉ, accusing officials in amateur boxing of corruption.[38][39][40] That decision was one of a number that had fellow international boxers and commentators questioning the integrity of Olympic boxing and the scoring system used.[41][42]

Conlan was found placing bets on boxing events at the 2016 Summer Olympics, violating the IOC rules. Accordingly, he was sanctioned with a severe reprimand by the Disciplinary Commission of the IOC.[43]

Pro Irish Republican 'ring walk'

In his eleventh professional bout, Conlan arrived in Madison Square Garden with The Wolfe Tones' song Celtic Symphony playing and some of the crowd chanting "Ooh ahh, up the 'Ra".[44] Some, including Northern Irish former world champion Dave McAuley, called for action from boxing regulatory bodies. The niece of an IRA bombing victim suggested that Conlan had "glorified terrorism" and criticised the boxer by suggesting he was the antithesis of other boxers like Barry McGuigan and Carl Frampton who had always strived to keep a cross-community spirit in boxing.[45] Promoter Barney Eastwood echoed McAuley's sentiment, saying it "should never have been allowed to come about". Politicians and boxing coach John Breen also suggested that Conlan will have lost support because of it.[46][47] Conlan subsequently apologised for his "misjudgement" in using Celtic Symphony as his ring-walk music.[48]

Professional boxing record
20 fights 18 wins 2 losses
By knockout 9 2
By decision 9 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
20 Loss 18–2 Luis Alberto Lopez TKO 5 (12), 1:14 27 May 2023 SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland For IBF featherweight title
19 Win 18–1 Karim Guerfi TKO 1 (12), 2:34 10 Dec 2022 SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland
18 Win 17–1 Miguel Marriaga UD 10 6 Aug 2022 SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland
17 Loss 16–1 Leigh Wood TKO 12 (12), 1:25 12 Mar 2022 Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England For WBA (Regular) featherweight title
16 Win 16–0 TJ Doheny UD 12 6 Aug 2021 Falls Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland Won vacant WBA interim featherweight title
15 Win 15–0 Ionuț Băluță MD 12 30 Apr 2021 York Hall, London, England Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental super-bantamweight title
14 Win 14–0 Sofiane Takoucht TKO 10 (10), 1:54 15 Aug 2020 York Hall, London, England
13 Win 13–0 Vladimir Nikitin UD 10 14 Dec 2019 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US Retained WBO Inter-Continental featherweight title
12 Win 12–0 Diego Alberto Ruiz TKO 9 (10), 1:34 3 Aug 2019 Falls Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland Retained WBO Inter-Continental featherweight title;
Won vacant WBA Inter-Continental featherweight title
11 Win 11–0 Ruben Hernandez UD 10 17 Mar 2019 The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US Retained WBO Inter-Continental featherweight title
10 Win 10–0 Jason Cunningham UD 10 22 Dec 2018 Manchester Arena, Manchester, England Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental featherweight title
9 Win 9–0 Nicola Cipolletta TKO 7 (8), 1:55 20 Oct 2018 Park Theater, Paradise, Nevada, US
8 Win 8–0 Adeilson Dos Santos PTS 8 30 Jun 2018 SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland
7 Win 7–0 Ibon Larrinaga UD 8 12 May 2018 Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
6 Win 6–0 David Berna TKO 2 (8), 1:00 17 Mar 2018 The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
5 Win 5–0 Luis Fernando Molina UD 6 9 Dec 2017 The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US
4 Win 4–0 Kenny Guzman TKO 2 (6), 2:59 22 Sep 2017 Tucson Convention Center, Tucson, Arizona, US
3 Win 3–0 Jarrett Owen TKO 3 (6), 1:56 2 Jul 2017 Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia
2 Win 2–0 Alfredo Chanez TKO 3 (6), 2:59 26 May 2017 UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois, US
1 Win 1–0 Tim Ibarra TKO 3 (6), 0:59 17 Mar 2017 The Theatre at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US

Television

In 2013, Conlan appeared in Celebrity Apprentice Ireland on TV3.[49] In 2016, Conlan appeared in Road To Rio on RTÉ2.

Awards

References
  1. "Belfast boxer Michael Conlan's pride in his nationality "rubs some people up the wrong way"". The Irish News. 12 March 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  2. "Michael Conlan tops AIBA world rankings". The Belfast Telegraph. 10 August 2012.
  3. "Michael Conlan - BoxRec". boxrec.com. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  4. "Cash boost to help Northern Ireland's boxing clubs off the ropes". The Belfast Telegraph. 10 August 2012.
  5. "London 2012: Introducing... Michael Conlan". The Score. 29 June 2012. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  6. "Walsh: Conlan must control his emotions". Evening Herald. Independent News & Media. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  7. "Brilliant Conlan adds another medal". The Irish Times. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  8. "London 2012: Boxer Michael Conlan clinches third Irish medal". BBC News. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  9. "Michael Conlan beaten in Olympic semi-final". RTÉ News. 10 August 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  10. "Profile". London 2012 Official Site. 1 August 2012. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  11. News, Boxing (8 June 2013). "Andrew Selby defeats Michael Conlan ⋆ Boxing News 24". Boxing News 24. Retrieved 23 November 2019. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  12. "Northern Ireland gets second gold medal with Conlan bantamweight win". Irish Sun.com. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  13. "Michael Conlan". Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  14. "Conlan becomes the first Irishman to win gold at the World Boxing Championships". The 42. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  15. "Michael Conlan: I told everyone I would be world champion – you can call me the Conor McGregor of boxing!". Irish Independent. 15 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  16. "Michael Conlan wins World Championship gold". RTÉ Sport. 15 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  17. "Michael Conlan named RTÉ Sport Person of the Year". RTÉ Sport. 19 December 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  18. "Daylight robbery as Michael Conlan denied Olympic medal by more farcical judging". The 42. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  19. "'I'm done with amateur boxing' – Michael Conlan confirms he's going pro". The42. 3 September 2016.
  20. "Is Michael Conlan on the verge of signing a professional deal with Mayweather Promotions?". Newstalk. 16 September 2016.
  21. "Michael Conlan turns pro with Top Rank Boxing". ITV. 19 September 2016.
  22. "Michael Conlan professional debut confirmed for St. Patrick's Day at MSG". Boxing News and Views. 24 September 2016.
  23. "'That was beautiful work': McGregor ringside as Michael Conlan delivers first professional win". The 42. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  24. "Michael Conlan begins pro career with third-round stoppage win". RTÉ Sport. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  25. "Michael Conlan Drops, Stops Diego Alberto Ruiz in Belfast". BoxingScene.com. 3 August 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  26. "Conlan earns unanimous win over Nikitin". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  27. "Conlan vs Nikitin - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  28. "Michael Conlan dominates and stops Sofiane Takoucht in 10". The Ring. 15 August 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  29. "Michael Conlan Overcomes Ionut Baluta With Majority Decision in Tough Fight". Boxing Scene. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  30. "Michael Conlan out to 'put manners' on 'arrogant' TJ Doheny in interim WBA featherweight title bout". bbc.com. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  31. Parkinson, Nick (7 August 2021). "Michael Conlan increases shot at world title after unanimous points victory over TJ Doheny". espn.com. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  32. Staff, BoxingScene (13 March 2022). "Leigh Wood vs. Michael Conlan - Official Scorecards". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  33. "'What happened? Did I lose?' - Conlan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  34. "Wood knocks out Conlan to retain title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  35. "Conlan 'all good' after knockout defeat in world title fight". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  36. Christ, Scott (6 August 2022). "Highlights and results: Michael Conlan returns with wide decision win in Belfast". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  37. "Michael Conlan: 'AIBA are cheats, fucking cheats, as simple as that'". The Irish Times. 16 August 2016.
  38. Happe, Liam (16 August 2016). "Rio 2016: Michael Conlan launches incredible profanity-laced rant at 'corrupt' Olympic chiefs". Yahoo News. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  39. Willes, Ed (16 August 2016). "Ed Willes: Irish fighter gives judges the middle finger as corruption allegation engulfs boxing". National Post. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  40. "'Amateur boxing stinks from the core right to the top' – Conlan". Irish Independent. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  41. "Gary Russell 'robbed' in loss as problems with Olympic boxing once again revealed", 16 August 2016.
  42. "Rio Olympics 2016: Boxing judges are 'crazy' over new scoring system". BBC Sport. 17 August 2016.
  43. "IOC sanctions three athletes for betting on Olympic competitions in Rio 2016" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  44. "Boxer Conlan criticised after pro-IRA chants". 18 March 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  45. "Call for boxer Michael Conlan suspension over ring walk song 'glorifying terrorism'". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  46. "Boxing chiefs must take a stand over ring walk songs after Michael Conlan controversy: McAuley". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  47. "'Up the Ra' chants at Michael Conlan's New York fight anger viewers". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  48. "Michael Conlan: Belfast fighter apologises over pro-IRA song at New York fight but he did it again with the song Grace". BBC. 10 May 2019.
  49. "Judges and Contestants". TV3.ie. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
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