Michael Conlan: "My daughter inspired me to first Games win."
By Terence Dooley
Ireland's 56kg hope Michael Conlan has revealed that a family moment caught on camera in Rio became the inspiration behind his Olympic dream and helped inspire his Round of 16 win.
Conlan was about to box Aram Avagyan of Armenia when he looked up at the big screens in the arena and caught sight of his daughter, Luisne, which prompted him to dig deep despite not feeling at his best to post a decision win over his opponent and will fill him with desire to progress further in the tournament.
“It was probably one of the best things I've ever experienced going into a boxing ring,” he stated when speaking to the Belfast Telegraph. “It's up there with the Irish fans in Doha (at last year's World championships) when I was coming out.”
He added: “Coming out and seeing my daughter and she had her arms out like the way I did on the T-shirt and she was lying with her head back. It was amazing. It kind of took the seriousness away from me. I just started laughing and was happy going into the ring.”
Conlan, though, dropped a round in the fight, albeit one that most thought he had taken, and he hopes to improve on his performance next time out. He said: “It was probably one of my worst performances in recent times. I got dragged into a war. I've been waiting out here since July 19, it has been a long, long time.
“People are saying there's obviously a lot of pressure on me but I thrive in those situations and the fact that people are raising their hopes of me. That didn't bother me, it was just the waiting around, everybody fighting and me having to wait.
“I got dragged into a war which was pretty stupid by me but I knew I could outfight him. I knew I could outbox him when I needed to.”
Conlan meets Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin later today in the quarter final match. The bantamweight hopeful lost to the Russian in the 2013 World Championships so he will have a revenge mission on his plate, one that could see him box in the semis should he prevent his opponent from repeating the 2013 result.
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