By Steve Kim
It's been about a month since Olympic medal winner Michael Conlan (1-0, 1 KO) of Ireland made his professional debut from the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York in front of a packed house.
Led into the ring by UFC superstar Conor McGregor, he stopped Tim Ibarra in three rounds to kick off his career.
After a short spell away from the gym, he's been hard at work at the Rock in Carson, California under the guidance of trainer, Manuel Robles.
"I took a week off and now I'm back in the gym," he said on Monday morning before his days work, which included sparring.
"I've been here training and I feel good. I can box in the morning if I need to. It's good to get the first one out of the way and I'm looking forward to the next one."
The pro debut, which not-so-coincidentally came on St. Patrick's Day for the two-time Irish Olympian, came with an incredible amount of exposure and with that, pressure. Conlan told BoxingScene.com:
"One thing I made sure of that week is to enjoy it and I really did. I had a good time and I'm just looking forward to this one being a little less pressure. But it's something that comes with it and now I have experience, I know what it would be like to fight for a world title."
As for when he will have his second outing, "sometime in late May," said Conlan, who could wind up in Chicago.
"I'm ready to go, whoever they put in front of me. It doesn't matter."
There's also talk of him appearing on the Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn fight card, which takes place at Suncorp Stadium in Australia in early July.
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.
