BUDDY McGirt, Pete Taylor and Harlem Eubank and Shane McGuigan (highly unlikely) have all been mentioned as Michael Conlan’s new coach for the next chapter of the Belfast featherweight’s engrossing career.
After losing his second world title challenge against Luis Lopez in May, Conlan parted company with Adam Booth, his cornerman since 2018, and is now on the lookout for the man who can get him over the line at the highest level.
Conlan says he won’t make any hasty decisions on his future. He mentioned the possibility of relocating to Miami but added that he might stay in London while stressing that he’ll take his time before he pens a deal for the next chapter of his career.
“There are plenty of coaches in Miami,” he said.
“I like the Cuban coaches – Pedro Diaz, Jorge Rubio… I’ve been speaking to Buddy McGirt as well and I might go and train with him for a few days to see what it’s like. I don’t think I’ll have it nailed down in the next month anyway. I’m not just going to go: ‘Yeah, that’s it’ because I did that at the start of my career when I went to Manny Robles.
“I don’t regret doing that but at the same time I probably should have shopped around a bit more. We’ll see.”
Conlan linked up with Booth after relocating from Los Angeles to London in 2018. He rejected the suggestion that the Londoner had changed his natural style too much for him to make the world title breakthrough.
“My natural style would have won me the Lopez fight,” he said.
“I just don’t think I turned up on the night because the plan was for me to use my natural attributes and just box and win that way. I believe I could have done that, but I didn’t do it.
“l’ve spoken to Adam and we ended it amicably, I’m not pointing any fingers or blaming anybody, I just think I need something different.”
Conlan will “most likely” be back in action in December, possibly as an undercard fighter, possibly with a European title at stake. One thing that seems certain is that he will sever his ties with US promoter Top Rank.
“I don’t know if I’ll stay there, I don’t know if I want to stay there,” he said.
He admits he took “a week or two” after the knockout loss to Lopez before he fully committed his mind to fighting again. Against Lopez Conlan started well and the first two rounds went his way but when he began trading with the heavy-handed Mexican thinks quickly started going against him and Booth’s final act was to throw in the towel in the fifth round.
“I was thinking: ‘I don’t know if I could do this again. All the training, all the effort and that feeling of losing again…’,” he explained.
“It was a very, very hard pill to swallow. Knowing that it wasn’t even me in there was even harder. Knowing that I didn’t show up on the night was much harder than not being good enough. That (not being good enough) wasn’t the case and I know that, so I take a bit of solace from that now but, at the time, I was just gutted.
“I had no energy that night. There was stuff going on behind the scenes and obviously subconsciously that affected what was going on. Even in the warm-up I didn’t feel like I was there. “After the weigh-in I started to feel… I was very agitated and stuff, I don’t know why, I think that’s just how it rolls sometimes.
“If a footballer has an off-day they go again the next week, if I have an off-night I have to wait however-many-months before I’m back in the ring. A footballer can right that wrong straight away whereas, as a boxer, you have to sit with it and dwell on it and face it and listen to criticism and (people telling you to) ‘pack it in’ and all that shite.
“But I know that I still have the talent and ability and I don’t think that’s changed, I don’t think two losses have changed that. One was a freak loss (against Leigh Wood) and the second one I was just not performing.
“I’ve had to do it the hard way so far and I’ll continue to do it whatever way I have to. My goal is still to be world champion, I want to get there and, if I don’t, I’ll feel I’ve underachieved.”
CONOR Quinn is looking ahead to a shot at the Commonwealth ‘Silver’ flyweight title against Scotland’s Chris Liddell as the headline act on ‘Clash of Clans’ at Belfast’s Girdwood Community Hub on October 14.
Quinn earned his title shot after hammering Bryan Castro from corner to corner on Friday night at Falls Park. Castro was mostly in survival-mode and when he did swing a surprise shot in the Belfast man’s general direction, Quinn slipped it, smiled and continued to pick him apart on the way to a shut-out points victory.
“I had to throw plenty,” said Quinn.
“He tucked up well, he was good at moving, he wasn’t really offering much back but when I’m in the Falls Park just two minutes’ up the road from my house I can’t stand there and do nothing. I caught him with a couple of good shots in the early rounds and then he just didn’t really want to know. He threw one or two back, but he was throwing when he knew he was out of range.
“I love a fight; I love it when people are throwing back at me and it can be a bit frustrating when they’re not but it’s all part of the game – these guys are tough and strong and they know what to do.”
The six one-sided rounds proved beyond doubt that Quinn is now ready for a real test, and he should get it against Liddel who also scored a points win over Castro.
“I’m in boxing to win belts,” said Quinn.
“I saw a picture of James Tennyson with about 30 belts around his waist and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to get involved with Mark Dunlop (his manager). Not many fighters get these opportunities so early in their careers."
SEAN McComb wants to be in position to fight for a world title be this time next year and the West Belfast technician is showing genuine evidence that he is getting to that level.
With impressive reserves of stamina in his locker, McComb produced arguably a career best performance last Friday night to retain his WBO European belt against determined challenger Alejandro Moya. McComb was all fast hands and slick footwork over the first five rounds but he stood and traded when he had to and, with plenty of energy in the tank, he maintained a high pace and workrate right to the finish.
All-in-all, it was a good night’s work from ‘The Public Nuisance’.
“I always do it, I always get involved in a fight,” said a delighted McComb afterwards.
“I always say that it breaks the rhythm. If a fight is going the same way, the same direction all the time then sometimes you need to break it up by going in close, taking a couple and then getting back out again.
“If I’m taking some shots in close and I’m comfortable, I’ll go back outside and I’ll let a flurry go – four, five, six punches – and that’ll get the scores back and then I’ll start moving again. I get the rhythm and it was a good performance – I enjoyed it.
“He (Moya) is a hungry fighter and he’s always looking to push on. He gave a good account of himself because he’s always a dangerous fighter and he’ll always be there or thereabouts and this level but I just had too much skill for him on the night.
“It was a good performance. My last two fights have been against good opponents – come-forward fighters and hard men who just want to have it out.
“I would like a good chess match against a good boxer, that’s something that would excite me. I’m training flat-out every day of the week. Pete (Taylor) is putting the work in, I’m putting the work in. Bang, bang, gravy chip.”
NOW 8-0, Kurt Walker has come through every test in his professional career with plenty to spare and the former Canal ABC star was his usual slick-boxing self on Friday night. He was never in trouble against opponent Jayro Duran who played the fool but was always dangerous over eight rounds.
“He was durable,” said Walker.
“How many bodyshots did I hit him with? 200? I don’t know but he took them well and he was trying to put me off by showboating but that’s what I needed – eight good rounds against someone like that.
“He was always dangerous because he’s had a lot of knockouts so you have to be switched on. Sometimes I let my guard down and came out too high so there were things to work on and things to learn from. I want another eight-rounder in October. I know I’m getting better and better and it’s all about improving so I’m happy with the steps I’m taking.”
FEARGHUS Quinn wants to give punters their money’s worth when they come out to watch him and the all-action middleweight from South Armagh certainly does that.
Quinn moved smoothly to 7-0 over six high-tempo rounds against experienced Ramiro Blanco at Falls Park on Friday night.
“It was a tough fight,” he said.
“I knew what way it was going to go. He’s a tough man, he doesn’t get stopped and I knew it was going to be a tough one. I knew he was going to hang in and that’s what he did. It was good to get the rounds in, they were high-paced rounds, and we’ll build on it.
“Throughout my amateur days I was always in exciting fights, and I’ve carried that into the pro game so if anyone comes out to watch me they know they’re going to get their money’s worth. I want to keep it going that way.”
Opponent Blanco had shared the ring, and gone the distance, with world champions Can Xu and Jhonny Gonzalez as well as the likes of title former Carl Frampton opponent Andres Guttierez (the fight was called off after Guttierez infamously slipped in his hotel shower and was injured).
The class that took him to that level was clear on Friday night, but Quinn dealt with him competently in his first six-rounder.
“He took some big shots, and it didn’t faze him that much,” said Quinn.
“It was good to get that experience – he came to throw back which is what you want – so I got a good six rounds in and I’m finally getting a bit of activity into my career so it’s something to build on towards the end of the year.
“I want activity, I want to keep fighting and hopefully I’ll get an Irish title shot before the end of the year. I want to keep the ball rolling, getting the fights in short succession and keep building.”
JACK Catterall defends his WBA Intercontinental title against multi-weight world champion Jorge Linares in Liverpool on October 21 (live on DAZN).
Catterall (27-1) is determined to make up for lost time following his controversial loss to former undisputed super-lightweight world champion Josh Taylor back in February 2022.
'El Gato' is itching to get back in the ring with the 'Tartan Tornado' and avenge his only loss, and the Chorley fighter has also targeted the winner of the muted fight between Devin Haney and Regis Prograis should he get past Venezuela's Linares.
The 30-year-old southpaw ended a 15-month ring absence by widely outpointing Darragh Foley over 10-rounds on the undercard of Leigh Wood's WBA Featherweight World Title win over Mauricio Lara at Manchester Arena in May.
“It is an honour to share a ring with Jorge Linares," said Catterall.
“He’s a legend of the game and this is a must-win fight for the both of us for very different reasons.
“There is talk of a huge fight for me after this but it’ll count for nothing if I take my eye off the ball - which I can’t afford to do at this stage of my career. It’s no secret my career has lacked momentum, so after boxing in May and now October I genuinely believe you’ll see the best version of me on October 21.”
