THROUGHOUT Michael Conlan’s amateur career, Vladimir Nikitin was the bogey man.
If circumstances conspired against the Belfast fighter, the Russian was there to capitalise.
When a young Conlan had to step up to super-bantamweight for the 2013 World Championships, Nikitin was there to exploit his lack of preparation. When Conlan boxed at the Rio Olympics, Nikitin was there to exploit some bizarre scoring by the judges at ringside.
Tomorrow night he will be in the other corner for a third time and Jamie Conlan says the bogey man won’t come out on top this time.
“In 2013 I thought Mick would beat him but he was very strong compared to Michael then,” said Jamie in New York yesterday.
“Michael had matured a lot by 2016 but again he got the decision. Him and Andrew Selby are the only two fighters to hold two wins over Mick because he always improves and finds a way the second time.”
Nikitin has boxed just three times as a professional and won all three on points. He has looked a pale shadow of the amateur star he was but Jamie expects him to be at the peak of his considerable powers tomorrow night.
“It’s going to be very interesting,” he said.
“This fight is not down to records, I know Nikitin is 3-0 but this goes beyond records, this is his world title fight and whatever we have seen previously of him is irrelevant. We are expecting the best Nikitin, this is his world title fight and everything is on the line for him.
“He knows he was signed by Top Rank solely to fight Mick. He wanted to do it on his debut and in his first and second fights. His whole existence as a professional boxer is to beat Michael because he knows that if he does his doors will open for him in terms of money and world championship opportunities.”
You won’t find many sports fans west of Moscow who will have Nikitin as favourite tomorrow night but until this one is over there will be lingering nerves that something will go wrong and he can come out on top.
“I’m not in there fighting,” said Jamie.
“I’m not in control of the controllables but Michael is. The magnitude of the event and the pressure that brings in terms of the media obligations have been raised.
“It is so big on the agenda of the Americans, ESPN value it so much and there is so much riding on this fight. Once the August fight fell through, fighting Nikitin was not going to be our agenda, we did not want it and we just decided to leave it and let bygones be bygones.
“But once Isaac Dogboe turned down this fight ESPN rang and made a fantastic offer for Michael to fight Nikitin and it was them who really pushed it.”
A Conlan win will make up for the loss in Rio – but only to an extent. It won’t mean that history can be rewound so Michael Conlan gets another shot at the Olympic gold medal that him and his father John since he was a youngster.
Highly-rated coach John Conlan was in his son’s corner in Rio. He saw his son totally out-box Nikitin in the first round but still lose it and then batter him for two more but lose on a landslide decision – one judge gave him one round, the other two gave Nikitin all three.
John Conlan was left “crushed” by a decision that stank and shook his faith in amateur boxing.
“Nothing is ever going to vindicate what happened in Rio,” said Jamie.
“Even if they sack all the judges or whatever, Mick doesn’t have an Olympic gold medal.
“You can’t vindicate what happened and not just for Mick, for my dad as well. It was a father-son Olympic gold medal dream and it was something they had worked towards since Mick was seven.
“For me, I would have been even prouder for my dad because people see what the boxer goes through but I saw what he went through as a father and as a coach. He is the shoulder we all cry on and he carries the family so I saw what he had to go through in Rio.
“It was very hard for Mick in Rio but he was distracted immediately but my dad had his whole idea of amateur boxing crushed. He was crushed, he left the Olympic Village in Rio and came and stayed with us in the apartment we had in Rio. He was crushed and not many people saw that.”
