MICHAEL Conlan flies to Miami on Sunday to meet with coaches he hopes can give him the edge he needs to move from him contender to champion.
When boxing fans think of Miami, it’s probably Muhammad Ali and the famous 5th Street Gym, run by Angelo Dundee, that comes to mind. Half-a-century on from the days of ‘The Greatest’, the Florida city remains a hub for fighters and Conlan’s fact-finding mission will include training sessions with Buddy McGirt, Jorge Rubio and Pedro Diaz. When he returns home, he’s likely to choose one of them to replace Adam Booth as his coach.
McGirt, who has worked with world champions Arturo Gatti, Antonio Tarver, Hasim Rahman, Paulie Malignaggi and Sergey Kovalev in the past, is Conlan’s first meeting. The former lightweight champion has postponed a trip to London to spend time with Conlan so he is obviously keen to work with the Belfast fighter.
“Buddy seems very, very keen,” said Conlan who could make his ring return in Belfast on December 2.
“He has been in contact a lot and that’s why I’m going to see him. I wasn’t planning to go but because of how keen he is I thought I’d better have a look and then I’ll meet Rubio and Pedro Diaz.
“I’m going with an open mind. I think that’s what you have to do – you can’t go with an opinion of where you’re going right away. I’ll see which one I have the best connection with, that’s the main thing. It’s getting a connection with a coach, seeing who you gel with the best.
“I want someone who’s going to be watching my opponents and making sure every box is ticked. I want somebody who is definitely on my side and on my team, who is 100 per cent in, not half-in, half-out.”
Conlan stressed that he wasn’t implying that former coach Booth wasn’t all-in and he cautioned that he hasn’t completely made up his mind on switching his training from London to Miami.
“If the coach is willing to come over to England, then we could train there,” he said.
“It could be Miami for the first half and then England for the second half of the camp. It might all depend on where I’m going to be fighting which, most likely, will be Belfast.
“I’m looking forward to it all. It’s a big change, a very big change. Upping sticks from my family – moving further away than I have been. In London I’m an hour away, if I’m in Miami it’s a six-seven-hour flight.
“So it is a big move but I am looking forward to it, I’m looking forward to seeing how it will all work out for me. I was over in England there and I was training in the gym with the boys and I got excited about all of this because I was thinking about how things will start to move and how it will all be. It’s a change, it’s fresh and I think I need that.
“I’m not one of those fighters who has moved around with different coaches. I was with Manny Robles for a year and it wasn’t working so I changed to Adam and I was with him for five years and now I feel it’s time to freshen-up a bit.
“You only get one chance at this game so it’s better to make the changes before it’s too late.”
Switching to the USA won’t change Conlan’s preferred targets. He’d still love a fight with the winner of Leigh Wood and Josh Warrington all-England battle in Sheffield on October 7.
“I’ll always have global targets,” he said.
“But, let’s be honest, if you’re talking big-money fights then those two (Warrington and Wood) are the biggest money-fights for me, never mind fights for the belts. If you’re in this game to provide financially for your family then those two are the biggest two fights for that and I’d take either one, winner or loser.
“If Wood wants to fight in the City Ground (Nottingham Forest’s home ground) then there’s one person who would fill it and that’s me. But I can’t look that far ahead, I’ve got to take my own steps first.
“We (Conlan Boxing) have December 2 booked but whether I’m on the card all depends on what the coaching situation is.”
TYRONE McKenna will grab his chance to shine when he takes on unbeaten Italian Nicholas Esposito for the IBO welterweight title at the RDS Dublin on September 16, predicts Michael Conlan.
McKenna (23-3-1) predicts that he will stop Esposito (17-0) with an explosive performance as the headline act on a show that will include Dublin favourites Thomas Carty, Luke Keeler, Emmet Brennan and the BUI Celtic middleweight battle of Graham McCormack and Dominic Donegan as well as Craig McCarthy’s duel with Kevin Cronin.
“It’s a massive opportunity for Tyrone,” said Conlan.
“He’s headlining our first show in Dublin for a world title… Would he have thought he’d get to this stage after he suffered his first defeat against Jack Catterall in 2018? I wouldn’t say so. But he’s got here because of all the effort he has put in and because of his showmanship and how captivating he is for fans.”
McKenna is arguably the most popular Irish fighter out there because he backs up his words with warriorlike deeds in the ring. There is never a dull moment as he goes full-out for victory and he has been involved in some unforgettable, blood-splattered ring wars.
“He is pure entertainment,” said Conlan.
“The fans get their money’s worth every single time. Every time I watch him, I don’t want to get my money’s worth, I just want him to win – I want him to use his height and his reach and win. But he just loves to go out there and entertain so Irish fight fans are in for a treat on September 16, we’re all in for a treat and I think Conlan Boxing will have its second world champion (Pody McCrory was the first).”
Conlan was based in Dublin during his amateur days as part of the Irish high performance set up and admits he would love to fight there as professional before his career comes to a close.
“It’ll be a great night,” said Conlan.
“It’s our first show in Dublin and it’s something I’m really looking forward to. It’s the capital of Ireland and I’d love to fight in Dublin myself at some stage.
“Conlan Boxing is going really well and we just want to keep on moving to bigger and better things.”
