This is a big week for both Michael Conlan and amateur boxing.
The Irishman’s career will be on the line this Friday when he faces Jack Bateson in Dublin, Ireland, knowing another defeat will put an end to his world title ambitions and most probably his professional career. It is also the first amateur boxing world championships since the governing body World Boxing took control of the sport. It is fitting that on such a big week for both it also marks a decade since Conlan struck gold at the 2015 World Championships in Doha.
Back when Conlan was in the unpaid ranks, amateur boxing was in the hands of AIBA, with the governing body eventually being suspended by the International Boxing Committee (IOC) back in 2019, with violations of financial and organizational management as well as sporting integrity amongst the wrongdoings that were proven by the McLaren Independent Investigation Team (MIIT).
Conlan himself faced the brunt end of AIBA’s antics at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Conlan, one of the favorites to claim gold, faced Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin in the quarter-finals, with a win securing at least a bronze medal from him and his country. After three one-sided rounds, it seemed an easy contest to score in Conlan’s favour, however, the ringside judges awarded the contest to the Russian. Conlan, disgusted by the decision, famously flicked the middle finger to all those seated ringside involved in crushing his Olympic dream. The IOC then took control of amateur boxing for the next two Olympic cycles, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
It looked as though amateur boxing was facing being disbanded from the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, but the IOC granted World Boxing provisional recognition back in February as the international federation governing boxing at the world level, cementing boxing’s place at the next games. The World Championships this week will be World Boxing’s first major tournament and it will take place in Liverpool, England, from September 4-14.Conlan is thrilled to see the sport move out of the corrupt hands of AIBA and into the clasp of World Boxing where he hopes judgement will be fair.
“My take is it's fantastic because, you know, like every sport, corruption runs rampant in boxing, more so in boxing than most sports, obviously amateur and professional,” Conlan told BoxingScene. “It's part of the reason I say you can't really love this game, because there are too many things that can throw you off, throw you out of love of it, you know what I mean? When you get to see some of the decisions and some of the things that happen, like you thought you would think after what happened with me in Rio [Olympics 2016], the corruption would be kind of probably kept down for a bit of a while.
“But I watched the last Olympics and it was just as bad. And I went, ‘This is terrible, these guys need out. And then obviously with the IOC saying that if AIBA are involved boxing's out the Olympics. Like that's the only reason you want to stay amateur is to kind of get that Olympic dream of being a champion and even being at the Olympic Games. I know loads of fighters who have went to Olympic Games and they'll have fucking OLY in their names on their social medias because they're an Olympian even if they don't medal, because it is such an achievement. Getting to the Olympics sometimes is harder than actually winning a medal at the Olympics. The Olympics is the heart and soul of amateur boxing. And with the corruption going on and the threat that it's getting kicked out because of AIBA, it was terrible. So, the fact that these guys are getting ushered out and the new guys are getting brought in for boxing, I think it's very good. And hopefully, please God, for the first load of years anyway, it stays uncorrupt, but you know, corruption will leak in at some stage.”
Amateur boxing is almost a conveyor belt that churns out talent for professional boxing, and although Conlan is yet to win a world championship in the pros – but he will hope a win this Friday pushes him closer to doing so – many other top amateurs have made the switch and become some of the sport’s biggest stars, something Conlan believes must continue.
“Amateur boxing is very vital to professional boxing and to get the best professional fighters, you need some of the top amateurs,” Conlan said. “If you look at some of the best professional fighters of all time, they've been Olympic champions. You know, you've got your Muhammad Ali, [Floyd] Mayweather – bronze medalist, Andre Ward, [Vasiliy] Lomachenko, [Oleksandr] Usyk, all these guys, they all came through the Olympic system. And I think it's very vital that it stays there, and that's why I'm really happy that World Boxing is kind of now getting its foot in the door to take over that scene.”
Although the horrors of Rio make Conlan now look back on his amateur career with ill feeling, he still has fond memories when reflecting on becoming the first Irish male to win a world championship gold.
“You know what? It was unbelievable,” he said. “But, at the same time, it was the first time I'd been knocked down in my life, in the final and I'd just won the gold. I was more embarrassed. Like, I look back on it and go, ‘You're stupid, why didn't you just enjoy it more?’ In the moment, I didn't enjoy the moment as much because I was going, ‘Jesus Christ, I just got put down. What the fuck?’ I was proper disgusted with myself because I was winning so well. And then what happened in the last round, listen, the guy who put me down is a puncher and he's fucking unified world champion already in the pros, Murodjon Akhmadaliev. He's fighting Naoya Inoue next. But, you know, I wish I had lived in that moment a bit more.
“But obviously, when it kind of settled in, being world champion, and being the first and only Irish man ever to do it, still the only Irish man ever to do it, mate, it changed my life. It made me. I became sports personality that year, Irish Sports Personality of The Year. The way I got spotted over here, I won that for Ireland. So it made me a household name at home. And that's why, when I'm fighting in Dublin now, I'm a bigger name in the south of Ireland because of that, because of the world championships and because of the Olympics and everything I've done. So, when I fight in the north, 50% of my tickets are bought from the south, which is unbelievable. So, I'm fully instilled to this day. And I'm excited about going back now because of that. Then that all stems back, starting off from the London 2012 Olympics, obviously, get my name on the scene. But then the world championships, winning sports personality, and then obviously, the Olympic rant helped an awful lot too.”
The world championships is incredibly hard to win, with the only British fighter ever to win a gold medal being Frankie Gavin back in 2007. So what would be Conlan’s advice to those attempting to add their names to the list of decorated winners?
“Enjoy every moment. Believe you're a champion already,” he said. “Have that self-belief in yourself, because self-belief will take you further than what you can imagine. You know, when I went to the world championships, I had just read The Secret [a book about the law of attraction]. And, I'm not lying, like, our sports psychologists, the team sports psychologists, were kind of looking at me like I was a bit crazy, because I was saying, ‘I've already won this, I'm just here to pick up a medal.’ And he was going, ‘What are you talking about?’ And I was like, ‘No, I promise.’
“He goes, ‘I love that, that’s brilliant.’ So I just kept saying it. And I remember, everything that happened, I was just like, ‘I just gotta go in here and just do what I have to do, because I've already won the gold, I just gotta pick up the medal.’ And there you go, I went and done it. So, when you have that self-belief and confidence in mind everything can be much easier. And, if you can see yourself, if you can, if you can see it, and you can visualise it and hold it, and feel every feeling that you're gonna feel, it will be achieved.
“I know there's a good few Irish fighters getting in as well,” he continued. “I wish them all the best, but I'll be honest, because of AIBA, my love for amateur boxing dwindled and I stopped watching it. But I'm sure that if this world championship is televised, with it being in the UK, hopefully it is, I'll be watching it.”
For those wishing to attend the World Championships in Liverpool, tickets are on sale at £15 for Adults and £5 for Concessions (U16, OAPs, Students and those in receipt of benefits). For tickets, the schedule and all the latest news about the Championships visit www.worldboxingliverpool.com
