IT was Father’s Day in Brazil yesterday, and the image of his baby daughter flashing up on the big screen at the Riocentro Pavilion was enough to inspire Michael Conlan to an opening win at the Olympic Games.
Wearing a t-shirt bearing the words ‘good luck daddy’, baby Luisne made her appearance just as Conlan was making his way to the ring.
And the Belfast switch-hitter – despite being nowhere near his best – was comfortable as he saw off Armenia’s Aram Avagyan to book a quarter-final clash with Vladimir Nikitin tomorrow afternoon (3.30pm).
Seeing his daughter in glorious technicolour, he said, “was probably one of the best things I’ve ever experienced going into a boxing ring”.
“It’s up there with the Irish fans in Doha when I was coming out. It was amazing,” said Conlan, who became the first Irishman to win a gold medal at the World Championships last October.
“It kind of took the seriousness away from me. I just started laughing and he [father/coach John] says ‘this is what we’re here for’. I just felt so happy going into the ring, even though I got dragged into a bit of a war.”
Luisne watching her daddy @mickconlan11 do his thing... Still better to come... #Rio2016 #Gold pic.twitter.com/4rL9Q4jV0C
— Jamie Conlan (@JamieConlan11) August 14, 2016
Conlan looked convincing when boxing and moving, but was drawn into a gunfight too often for his own liking, with Avagyan attempting to pile on the pressure.
He did enough to get the decision on all three judges’ cards – 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 – but the current golden boy of Irish boxing knows he must improve if he is to realise his dream of becoming the first Irishman to win an Olympic gold medal since Michael Carruth in 1992.
Irish bantamweight Michael Conlan gives his thoughts on his impressive win at #Rio2016 https://t.co/YqM62qyE6m
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 14, 2016
Conlan added: “It was good to get that win out of the way.
“It was probably one of my worst performances in recent times – I got dragged into a fight, which I shouldn’t have. My legs said try to box but my head said go to war.
“I had to just do a bit of both. It is what it is, I got the win. Every tournament I go to, my first fight is always terrible.
“I actually said to Paddy Barnes ‘if I come away with a bad performance today and I win I’ll be happy because it will set me up for a good one the next time as I’ll want to perform’.
“Paddy said: ‘You have to win, you should beat this guy with a bad performance’. I knew I could, I knew I could beat him in any style I wanted to.”
Dad John, who was working Conlan’s corner alongside Irish head coach Zaur Antia, said he was “very happy” with his son’s performance – but, like Michael, is confident the best is yet to come.
“If that was his best performance we would be in trouble, but it’s not his best performance with the nerves, the heat in the arena, the crowd,” said John [Conlan].
“This was his [Avagyan’s] Olympic final. Everybody who fights Michael now, it is their Olympic final, and they will all use whatever tactic they can – low blows,
head-butts, box, counter punch, holding… they were going to use whatever tactic it takes.
“We have to make sure we have our own plan. But I said to him before he came in ‘you are the best boxer I have ever seen’, and I have been around and worked with pros. We will take it as it comes, every day is different.”
