Adam Booth remembers Michael Conlan’s dramatic defeat by Leigh Wood in Nottingham, UK, as being among the most heartbreaking he has experienced.

Booth, who has worked with the likes of David Haye, George Groves, Ryan Burnett, Andy Lee, Chris Eubank Jnr, Felix Cash, Joe Joyce and David Allen, spent years working with the high-profile Irishman before Conlan suffered a 12th-round stoppage with 95 seconds left in the fight at Nottingham Arena in 2022.

Conlan dropped Wood early, but Wood fought back and won with a violent stoppage that involved Conlan falling from the ring.

“In the time that Mick and I worked together, it was incredible, some great memories,” said Booth. “Trips to New York St. Patrick’s Day, the parks in Belfast, Vegas. And he was a joy to coach, you know? He was a real professional.”

They had high hopes going into the Wood fight – one seen by many as the Fight of the Year.

“I was gutted,” Booth said of that night. “It was the hardest loss when he lost to Leigh Wood because he had fought so well that night, because of what the fight was like and then how abruptly it ended, so close to the end. So that one just left me totally gutted for him. But when I look back at the times and the journey, the journey is the destination. 

“Yes, the championships and the endings are nice. But, ultimately, the majority of what you do is the journey, not the destination.”

Asked whether it was the most heartbreaking loss, Booth replied: “Yeah, I mean, as much as any I can think of because of the manner of the fight, because of how much he’d improved and evolved as a fighter to that moment in time. And it just goes to prove that this sport can be cruel sometimes.”

Booth’s latest fighter set to compete for a world title is Josh Kelly, who on January 31 will take on Bakhram Murtazaliev, the IBF 154lbs titleholder, at Newcastle Arena.

Russia’s Murtazaliev is the favorite, but Kelly is fighting in Newcastle, not far from his home in England, and he has been working diligently with Booth at his gym in Surrey, having had three weeks of training in Dubai before Christmas.

Kelly is 17-1-1 (9 KOs), with the lone loss coming to David Avanesyan in 2021. He has been written off by many since, but he is rated first by the WBO and third by the IBF.

Booth has said that while Kelly is a gifted 2016 Olympian, it is not always about what a fighter can do in the ring that appeals to him as a coach. It is often who they are as people.

“For me, it’s not about, ‘OK, oh, he's a world champion, so I'll train him,’” Booth explained.

“It’s never like that. It's always much more personal, much more long term. Even with Mick Conlan, Mick and I have worked together for years leading up to that. Josh has been with me now since he turned pro nine years ago. They're always long journeys, and if it wasn't for Josh, I'm confident I probably wouldn't be coaching now. 

“But we’ve committed to seeing this through to the end. I believe in his ability wholeheartedly. I know how good he is. I've seen what he can do. And having gone through his program of evolution, he now has an opportunity to fulfil his potential, and that really excites me. That’s what gets me interested to keep doing this. I've been doing it for a long time. I've got a lot of injuries. I've got a lot of pains myself.

“I need surgery on two different joints but can't do that until I retire from coaching. So it's been a … it's been a long journey. But I still seem to have a youthful enthusiasm.”

Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.