Featherweight (10 rounds): Michael Conlan (17-1) v Karim Guerfi (31-6) (tonight, SSE Arena, 10pm, live on Fite TV)
By Andy Watters
AS ALWAYS with Michael Conlan, St Patrick’s weekend is the target and what happens tonight will either prepare him for, or potentially rule him out of, the world title shot that awaits in March next year.
There are credible rumours that victory tonight will set up world title clash with former WBO super-bantamweight champion Isaac Dogboe either at home in Belfast or home-from-home in New York but first Conlan has to take care of the ever-dangerous Karim Guerfi.
The battle-hardened Frenchman is a proven force at European title level and, although he’s 35 now, he remains a respected road warrior who pushed highly-rated Jordan Gill all the way in London in February.
Like Conlan tonight, Gill went into the fight as the clear favourite but he was floored by one of Guerfi’s trademark left hooks in the seventh round and was trapped in a corner on the brink of defeat when he produced a sledgehammer of a right hand out of nowhere to knock his opponent spark-out in the final seconds of the ninth.
Guerfi has bounced back with a win since then but you do wonder what that Gill fight has taken out of the ageing warrior.
We will find out tonight.
Conlan boldly predicts that he will knock his opponent out. He is prone to a gung-ho prediction every now and again but if all goes to plan for him tonight he is capable of doing just that.
The Belfast fighter says he is punching harder than ever before and he has dropped his last three opponents – TJ Doheny, Leigh Wood and Manuel Marriaga (three times in August). In coach Adam Booth’s London gym he has worked relentlessly on fighting as a southpaw and that, along with his quick feet and slick, studious movement, should mean he stays clear of Guerfi’s signature left hook tonight and gets in position to land his own shots.
Guerfi is there to be hit. Lee McGregor battered him with left hooks when he stopped him last year and Filipino southpaw Michael Dasmarinas knocked him out with a carbon copy of the booming straight left with which Conlan dropped Wood in the first round of their title fight in Nottingham back in March.
So Conlan has all the tools for Guerfi and, if he uses them and implements the gameplan, a ninth career stoppage win can be his.
He has bounced back from the Wood loss mighty impressively and, apart from the final round when he lost concentration and was briefly in trouble, his comeback in August against Marriaga repaired some of damage done in Nottingham.
Another impressive display tonight will repair the rest and Conlan is focussed on producing it.
“Guerfi is a tough guy,” he said.
“I’ve watched him throughout his career – the first time I saw him was against Ryan Farraq (Guerfi stopped the Scouser in his native Liverpool back in 2016) so I know his strengths and weaknesses.”
Yes, he is looking ahead to that world title shot but he knows that everything hinges on victory tonight.
“If I don’t beat him all of that is gone,” he said.
“I believe I’ll put on a dominant performance and I believe I’ll knock Karim Guerfi out.”
Conlan’s coach Adam Booth expects Guerfi to block out would should be a terrific atmosphere in the SSE Arena and push his man hard tonight. That will bring out the best in Conlan, says the Londoner.
“There has been a constant improvement in Mick for the last two and-a-half years and since his world title fight and since his last fight there has been progression again,” said Booth.
“He’s not finished evolving as a fighter and improving his game and what he needs is capable and experienced competition that comes with desire. I’ve watched Karim for a long time and we know that Karim brings a test that will bring out the elements in Mick that are world class.”
We can expect Guerfi to come to fight tonight. He won’t be afraid to mix it with the home favourite but Conlan’s movement and skill should be too much for him.
In his fifth fight on home soil, Conlan could box his way home but he’ll want to impress and he will look to stay patient, take the opportunities when they come and get the job done early.
Only then can he begin to plan for another St Patrick’s Day spectacular.
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The undercard
WBO European Super Light (vacant): Sean McComb (14-1) v Zsolt Osadan (23-0-1)
THE ‘Public Nuisance’ McComb says working with Pete Taylor in Dublin has taught him who he is as a boxer and he intends to bring the new-found confidence of a settled style and clear gameplan to bear tonight.
Osadan, a regular at the Gentlemen Fight Club Boxing House in Budapest, is unbeaten but he will struggle to get close to the technically-excellent McComb who could pick him off on the backfoot. No doubt this is a massive step-up for the Slovakian against a tall southpaw who has boxed at Commonwealth Games level as an amateur and British title level as a pro.
McComb’s pride was dented when he was left out of the live TV segment of the SSE show in August and tonight, as chief support, he’ll be determined to show what he’s all about and send Osadan home with “a cauliflower arse”.
Prediction: McComb
Boxing Union of Ireland BUI Celtic Middleweight title: Graham McCormack (8-1) v Fearghus Quinn (4-0)
THIS could be the fight of the night. At 34, McCormack is eight years’ Quinn’s senior but it was only after he left behind a lifestyle of criminality, drink and drugs at 28 that he resurfaced as a fighter. The Limerick native made his pro debut at 30 and won this BUI belt in June at the Europa Hotel.
He will do all in his power to keep it.
Meanwhile, Quinn has fought just once since August last year but says he is ready for tonight’s challenge. Strong and fit, the barrel-chested boxer from Belleeks, south Armagh has a terrific workrate and punch output and he and McCormack will go at it from the first bell.
Prediction: Hard to call but Quinn gets the nod.
Light-heavyweight: Padraig McCrory (15-0) v Dmytro Fedas (8-0-2)
BELFAST favourite McCrory is back in action just seven weeks’ after dominating Leon Bunn to win the IBO Light-heavyweight title in Germany.
That title isn’t on the line tonight but, with the possibility of a defence in March looming, ‘the Hammer’ is primed for a learning fight against unbeaten Ukrainian Fedas.
“It’s another fight, it’s another camp and a chance to learn, I’m 34 but I feel like I’m still learning and I’m getting better with each fight,” he said.
“I’ve boxed on the undercard of every Mick show in Belfast and it’s getting bigger and bigger. It’s a pleasure to fight on his cards, the atmosphere is always great and my fanbase is building on the back of it.”
Prediction: McCrory
Featherweight: Kurt Walker (4-0) v Yader Cardoza (26-20-1)
Welterweight: Paddy Donovan v Jose Angel Rosales Romero (6-5)
Flyweight: Conor Quinn (3-0-1) v Stephen Jackson (1-28-1)
Super-welterweight: Paul Ryan (5-0) v Roy Fernandez (2-5-1)
Super-welterweight: Kieran Molloy (3-0) v Alexander Zeledon (6-39-4)
Welterweight: Lewis Crocker – cancelled.
