By Edward Chaykovsky
This coming Friday, Ireland's Olympic hero Michael Conlan will celebrate St. Patrick's Day by making his professional debut headlining a special card at The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
Conlan's pro debut, which will be as a junior featherweight, in a six-round bout against Tim Ibarra (4-4, 1 KOs), of Denver.
The boxer's countryman and close friend, UFC superstar Conor McGregor, accepted Conlan's invitation to walk him into the ring. Top Rank is staging the MSG card, which will feature a number of their boxers like Alex Saucedo.
Conlan recently spoke with McGregor, when the MMA fighter came to the United States to continue his discussions for a potential cross-sport boxing match with former five division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr.
A fight with Mayweather has a huge obstacle, which is McGregor's exclusive contractual agreement with the UFC.
McGregor told Conlan that he's confident the contract issue with the UFC will be worked out and the Mayweather fight will go forward. Conlan also believes the fight is going to come off.
"I was doing some strength and conditioning, and Conor was out here having talks with the Mayweather team about their possible fight. He came to LA to do some training. He ended up in the gym so it was good to catch up with him. I watched him do some training and he looked great," Conlan told Dublin Live.
"He looked in shape and he is confident the fight is going to be made. I think it will happen, and I am delighted for him. It is a massive fight, and I hope it happens. I won't speak on who will win, or if Conor can pose Mayweather problems. I don't want to get involved in that debate."
"But Conor believes 100 percent in his ability, and he believes 100 percent in himself. He isn't doing it just for the money. He is doing it to win the fight. He can't see himself losing. You can't write someone off who 100 per cent believes in himself. When you have that belief, things happen."
The fight has critics on both sides of the fence. McGregor facing Mayweather in a contest under straight boxing rules is viewed as a huge mismatch.
Conlan believes the fight will be huge and all of the critics who despise the idea of the match will tune in and watch the fight.
"People will go crazy for it. But you see the people who complain about it, they will watch it. Boxing fans will watch it. MMA fans will watch it. Everyone will watch it, whether they agree with it or not. Simple as that. Every single person will watch this fight," Conlan said.