Michael Conlan is done with amateur boxing. During the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Conlan was eliminated from the men's bantamweight competition in the quarterfinals by a controversial call from the three judges, who awarded the win to Vladimir Nikitin.
Conlan reacted by raising his middle finger at the judges and delivering a strongly-worded live television interview to RTÉ, accusing officials in amateur boxing of corruption.
And last night, Conlan insisted he’s set his sights on the professional ranks rather than ‘waste four years of his life’ working towards Tokyo.
“I’m in talks with a few of people,” he told Ryan Tubridy on the Late Late Show. “I have a lot of offers but that is all I can say at the moment. 100% [I'm going professional].”
He added: “The fact that it has happened could be a blessing, the way it happened like it did. It could be the catalyst for my career and a driving force to become a multi-weight world champion and probably Ireland’s greatest ever fighter.”
After the shock quarter-final defeat in Rio an emotional Conlan pointed the finger at officials and judges. And though he says he cringes at the interview now, he does not regret it.
“It was my dream,” he said, “when I look back now and I cringe because I did go a bit far but if I didn’t go that far I would probably regret it. That just made me feel a lot of relief and people saw what I felt and I spoke my mind.”