Irish bantamweight Michael Conlan has officially turned pro and announced that he officially signed a promotional agreement with Las Vegas based Top Rank.
Top Rank has signed numerous top Olympians over the years - including Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Miguel Cotto, Vasyl Lomachenko, Oscar Valdez, Felix Verdejo and many others.
Last month during the Olympic Games in Rio, Conlan made worldwide headlines after blasting Olympic boxing body AIBA as being 'corrupt' in an expletive-laden rant at the judging after losing to Russia's Vladimir Nikitin in the quarter-finals.
Saying he had been robbed of a rightful win, and vowing never to fight again in any AIBA-organized competition, the world champion also accused Russia of influencing judges.
"AIBA are just corrupt. They've robbed me of my Olympic dream," he told reporters after losing on points in a unanimous decision that, to some observers, seemed at odds with what they had witnessed.
"Obviously Russia can't dope this time so they are obviously paying the judges a lot more," he added. "I will never box an AIBA competition again. Not APB, not WSB, not world championships or Olympic Games. Corruption runs deep... I just think they are rotten to the core."
Conlan, who had been the last Irish boxer left in the tournament, lost 28-29 on all three scorecards. The three judges -- from Brazil, Sri Lanka and Poland -- all gave Conlan the second round 10-9 10-9 10-9 but scored the first and last in favor of his rival.
"He was completely surprised (to win). He roared like he'd won the Olympic gold... He knows he didn't win," Conlan said.
In his debut match at the 2012 Olympics, he defeated Ghanaian boxer Duke Micah, having received a bye in the first round. In the quarter final, he defeated French boxer Nordine Oubaali by 22–18, guaranteeing himself a bronze medal. Conlan lost his semi-final bout against Cuba's Robeisy Ramírez, who went on to win gold in the final.
2015 started off with Conlan competing in WSB (World Series Boxing) for Italia Thunder. Conlan and his team mate also a fellow Irish boxer Paddy Barnes would compete in seven fights over 14 weeks in an effort to try and secure qualification for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Michael racked up 5 wins out 7 which was just enough for him to finish second in the individual ranking and secure Olympic berth in Rio.
In August 2015 Conlan won the European Championships at Bantamweight and scooped Boxer of the Tournament. In October 2015, Conlan won the gold medal in the bantamweight division at the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships. It was Ireland’s first ever male World Championship gold medal.