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UFC star Conor McGregor calls boxer Conor Wallace into camp

Conor McGregor and Conor Wallace after their recent spar at the Straight Blast Gym in Dublin
Conor McGregor and Conor Wallace after their recent spar at the Straight Blast Gym in Dublin Conor McGregor and Conor Wallace after their recent spar at the Straight Blast Gym in Dublin

UFC superstar Conor McGregor has enlisted the help of one of the rising stars of Irish amateur boxing as he steps up preparation for his much-anticipated rematch with Nate Diaz in Las Vegas.

Newry middleweight Conor Wallace, who is extremely highly-rated by Irish head coach Zaur Antia, has been asked to fly out and join McGregor’s camp for the next seven weeks ahead of the August 20 showdown.

Diaz recorded one of the biggest upsets in recent UFC history when he beat ‘The Notorious’ by second round submission back in March, and McGregor is pulling out all the stops to gain revenge when the pair meet again at the Forum.

Tall southpaw Wallace is similar to California native Diaz in size and style, and McGregor sees the 20-year-old – who boxes out of the St Monica’s club - as the perfect sparring partner to help hone his boxing skills.

The pair shared the octagon a fortnight ago at Dublin's Straight Blast Gym – the day after Wallace had returned from a gruelling 10-day training with the Irish boxing team in Azerbaijan.

And the county Down fighter made such a positive impression that he and coach Owen Murphy will fly out to America’s west coast on Tuesday to join the McGregor camp.

“It’s some opportunity for me,” he said.

“The first spar came about because he contacted Michael Conlan looking for tall southpaws, so Mick gave him my name, Joe Ward’s name and Adam Nolan’s name.

“He looked us up and thought maybe I’d be best suited because I’m tall and thin. He said Joe Ward was maybe too tall and too heavy, Adam Nolan wasn’t tall enough, so I suppose I got lucky.

“It went very well and then last week he contacted me asking if I’d be interested in coming out and helping him with sparring, alongside the MMA rounds he’ll be doing as well.

“He asked when I’d be able to go and obviously I said ‘any time’, so the flights are booked and we’re heading out on the fifth of July.

“I can’t wait - I just have to take it in my stride. I don’t think it’s really hit me yet, it probably won’t until I’m actually there.

“I haven’t said to too many people but anybody close to me who knows is obviously delighted.”

It has been a whirlwind 12 months for Wallace, during which time he has won an Irish intermediate title, reached Ulster and Irish senior finals, booked his place at the World University Championships in Thailand later this year and come close to forcing his way into the reckoning for a place at the Olympics Games.

Nothing, though, has come close to garnering as much attention as his spar with McGregor - with Wallace explaining that his phone eventually “gave up” under the weight of so many text messages and Facebook posts.

“Even when I was walking down the town, loads of people were stopping me saying ‘how’d you get on with McGregor’, that kind of thing,” he continued.

“People are totally fascinated by him.”

And while McGregor was clearly impressed by Wallace once the gloves were donned, the feeling was mutual.

Plenty of fight fans have speculated about the strength of McGregor’s boxing ability, especially coming up against an opponent like Diaz who is best known for his striking.

California native Diaz is highly regarded for his boxing skills, but Wallace believes ‘The Notorious’ will be more than capable of holding his own in this regard when they meet again.

He added: “He was very good, his boxing skills were at a very high level.

“He was very hard to hit, had very good head movement, his reflexes and movement were very impressive. The angles he was creating for himself were very good.

“We had 16 ounce sparring gloves on – I wouldn’t like to be getting hit by him with the wee MMA gloves on.

“It was a very good spar, and he’s doing all the right things to beat Diaz.”