By Steve Kim
Unlike his first two professional bouts, which were broadcast on Spanish network, UniMas, Michael Conlan's upcoming bout against Jarett Owen, will be shown on ESPN as part of the Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn telecast this Saturday night from Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia.
For the highly touted Irishman, it's a chance to play to a much broader American audience.
"I'm over the moon, it's an amazing day for boxing in general and for me to be a part of it, it's a complete honor,'' said Conlan (2-0, 2 KO's) as this was announced a couple of weeks ago before he took off for Australia.
Like most others, Conlan didn't know much about this deal till it was unveiled.
"I was in the dark, I didn't know where it was going," he admitted. "You knew more than me. When I heard it was going to be on ESPN, I said,'Oh, this is going to be big."
For Conlan, and Olympic medal winner with a growing fan base from Ireland, it's a chance to reach casual sports fans who otherwise wouldn't watch him perform. Conlan is still grasping the magnitude of this opportunity.
"I know it's big, I don't understand how big because I'm not American so I don't know how TV works over here. But from a world-wide standpoint ESPN is huge all over the world - even in my home country. So this is big no matter what," Conlan siad.
Coverage of this card begins at 9 pm (ET) on ESPN and it also features IBF super flyweight titlist, Jerwin Ancajas, defending against Teiru Kinoshita and a middleweight contest between Shane Mosley Jr and David Toussaint.
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.