Eddie Hearn Passed On Michael Conlan Signing

By Elliot Foster

Eddie Hearn passed on an opportunity to sign Mick Conlan before the Belfast star inked with U.S. giant Top Rank.

The Matchroom chief confirmed the news in a recent video interview.

Hearn revealed that a conversation with Matthew Macklin, who is Conlan’s manager, took place before his controversial Rio Olympic campaign.

But he cited a lack of plans in Conlan’s native Ireland as the reason behind not adding the 25-year-old to his ever-growing Brentwood-based stable.

“Matt [Macklin] called me –– and this was well before the Olympics,” Hearn told Kugan Cassius of iFL TV, “asking if I would be interested in Mick Conlan.

“We weren’t really looking at Ireland [at the time] and, from there, he [Macklin] went and did a deal [for Conlan] with Top Rank, [which] I think was in place pretty much before the Olympics.”

Hearn has outlined his desire to return to Ireland with Bray amateur superstar Katie Taylor and Belfast’s British bantamweight champion Ryan Burnett in 2017, though there are no firm plans at this stage for a show in the country.

“I don’t, and this sounds muggy and Mick said it as well, really approach fighters, hound them down, sit outside their door, text them, DM them on Twitter,” Hearn continued. “They know where we are, it doesn’t mean we don’t want them.

“I think, obviously, someone [in the shape of Bob Arum and Top Rank] made a play for him and I think he’s in a good place with Top Rank, I think they’re going to give him a lot of opportunities and I think they did a great job with the debut.”

Conlan made a successful start to his paid career on March 17, selling out the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, stopping Tim Ibarra inside three rounds.

He is set for a quick turnaround, however, and is now expected to box again in Boston on May 12 or 19.

Carl Moretti of Top Rank confirmed to Boxing Scene’s Steve Kim that one of those two dates –– at a venue to be confirmed –– will accommodate Conlan’s next outing and further details are expected to be revealed in due course.