By Francisco Salazar
NEW YORK CITY - A sold-out crowd of 5,102.
Being walked to ringside by UFC star Conor McGregor.
And an impressive win to boot.
Not bad for a first night in the pro ranks for Michael Conlan.
Irish eyes were indeed smiling Friday night inside the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City as Conlan won his professional debut, stopping Tim Ibarra in the third round.
With an atmosphere that would have rivaled one found at a soccer game in Europe, a boisterous crowd, and many more watching in homes throughout Ireland and Northern Ireland, watched as Conlan took the fight to Ibarra, who is from Denver, Colorado and drops to 4-5, 1 KO.
As Conlan and many more may have gotten goosebumps as fans inside the Theatre at Madison Square Garden chanted 'Ole! Ole!,' Conlan looked very tight and nervous, but settled down and got things going.
It was only a matter of time before referee Benjy Esteves did what he had to do, stopping the fight at 59 seconds.
The journey that began for Conlan fighting and winning his pro debut came in August when he was the victim of suspect officiating at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Amateur boxing has long had the stigma of running a shady system, one where Conlan, Roy Jones, and many more fighters have been the victim of bad judging. What is worse is that it will likely continue when fighters in their shoes may suffer the same fate in 2020.
Rather than go through that again, Conlan decided to turn pro, signing with Top Rank, which has had the reputation of being the best at developing young fighters into the pro ranks.
Not every fight of Conlan in the future may have the glitz and glamour as Friday night, and his career will likely be more under the microscope with each passing fight, especially those where he wins.
But he is moving forward with his career, as what happened to him in Rio de Janeiro is a long, distant memory.
"This (tonight) is only the beginning for me," said Conlan after the fight.
Conlan has an exciting style, and that will be defined more while working with trainer Manuel 'Manny' Robles. Not to mention he gets quality sparring against the likes of world titleholders Oscar Valdez and Jessie Magdaleno.
Friday night was a lesson where things might not have gone his way at the beginning, but he was able to eventually figure things out.
"It wasn't that I was tight, but it was just the anticipation of fighting here in front of so many of my fans," said Conlan. "Once I relaxed and found my rhythm, I was able to settle down."
Welterweight Alex Saucedo battered Johnny Garcia before the fight was stopped at 2:42 of the second round. Saucedo (24-0, 15 KOs) landed numerous barrage of punches, before a left right hurt Garcia and prompted referee Steve Smoger to intervene and stop the fight.
Friday night marked the second time Saucedo has worked with trainer Abel Sanchez.
Unbeaten featherweight and 2016 Olympic gold medalist Robson Conceicao (3-0, 2 KOs) blew away late-sub Aaron Hollis (3-5, 2 KOs), stopping him at 36 seconds of round two.
In an off-TV bout, lightweight Teofimo Lopez (3-0, 3 KOs), who represented Honduras at the 2016 Olympic Games, knocked out Daniel Bastien (4-4, 2 KOs) at 39 seconds of round two.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing