Michael Conlan on Career: It's All Moving in The Right Direction

By Thomas Gerbasi

It almost doesn’t seem like two years since Michael Conlan made his pro debut in New York City, and as he prepares to make his third consecutive St. Patrick’s Day appearance in the Big Apple, he would agree.

“It’s been a blink of an eye,” Conlan admits. “It’s went along nice and smoothly how I wanted it, at the right speed, at the right pace. I think it’s all moving in the right direction and now we’re here in year number three. If I’m honest, I’ve been asking for bigger fights, and even though this one is a big fight for me, I would really like a bit more.”

That’s what you want to hear from a fighter, that he’s happy with his progress, but also wanting more. And if the 27-year-old from Belfast has proven one thing already, it’s that he is a fighter, a no nonsense battler who shows up to fight in the ring and tells it like it is outside the ropes. That made this young man quite popular in a short amount of time.

“I think they just see me as another normal guy who’s trying to achieve a dream,” said Conlan when asked about his appeal, and he’s right. Despite a pair of Olympic appearances, the first garnering him a bronze medal, the second getting him international notoriety when he was robbed of a decision in the quarterfinals and then proceeded to tell the world what he thought of the judges and the entire amateur hierarchy, he isn’t a coddled pro athlete walked through life from limo to limo.

He is as real as it gets in this game, which makes him one of the more intriguing figures in it. Just a scroll through his Twitter feed will see references to everything from Rocky II and the split between Chantelle Cameron and the McGuigans to his recent read of William Hill Sports Book of the Year winner “The Lost Soul of Eamonn Magee.” In other words, he’s not just flying by as he compiles win after win in the ring. He has a keen eye for the game beyond the game, and he’s watching every aspect of it.

“It was an unbelievable read, and he’s from Belfast, where I’m from,” Conlan said of the Magee book, written by Paul D. Gibson. “At the end of reading that book, I didn’t know how I felt, I didn’t know what emotions were running through me. I am aware of all that stuff and it can easily happen to anybody, including myself, if the people around you aren’t helping control you or else you’re not controlling yourself. I think I’m very lucky in that sense. I’ve got a great family, a great support team and I’ve had a good upbringing. Even though I’ve done a lot of things in my life, some bad, some good, I’ve always been brought back to the straight by my father. I’ve been made respectful and been made to pay any consequences for mistakes I’ve made in the past.”

A tight-knit team, from family to management to promoter, is a key to success in this sport, and at 10-0, with appearances in Madison Square Garden, Manchester, Las Vegas, Chicago, Brisbane and his hometown of Belfast, success is building for Conlan, who faces Ruben Garcia Hernandez in the MSG Theater next month. But when it all comes down it, it is the fighter’s job to lead the way and know what’s happening both on fight night and before the opening bell rings.

“Knowledge is important,” he agrees. “I see things happen in boxing all the time, and I hear a lot of things on the grapevine and I know the people around me I’m lucky to have. But I pay attention to everything and I’m not like other fighters who just have their blinkers on, looking straightforward trying to get across that finish line. I have to be aware of my own situation and my own surroundings. I see the little traps where you can fall down and places where things can go wrong. I do my best to maneuver myself around those and focus on how not to fall into those things.”

It sounds like a lot to take in and then still have to face off with an opponent looking to make his name off yours. And Mexico’s Hernandez, 24-3-2, is no joke, having only lost to Nonito Donaire, Randy Caballero and Rafael Rivera. But Conlan’s amateur experience and his work in the pro game thus far have him on the right track. That doesn’t mean it’s always been like that, as he admits to having more than a few butterflies in his stomach before his pro debut in 2017.

“As much as I would like to say I can control nerves, in that situation the nerves were huge,” Conlan recalls. “I had the whole world watching, I sold out the Garden Theater in my debut, Conor McGregor was there, it was on St. Patrick’s Day and it felt like the whole Garden was in one room. There was so much expectation and I had never lifted up a professional glove until that point, so I was going into the unknown, not really knowing what to expect.”

Even earlier on fight day, Conlan was nervous, and those nerves didn’t dissipate when he was in the locker room. But when the doors opened for him to make the walk to the ring, everything changed and he was ready to fight.

“I remember feeling calm and that I belonged here, that this is where I’m meant to be,” he said. “The atmosphere, the fans, there’s that feeling of excitement where everyone’s cheering your name. I think that’s one of the main things you feel when you’re in the sport, and that will be one of the main things you miss, all the adulation and the support that you get from around the world.”

Just ten fights into his career, the best is yet to come for Conlan, so there will be a lot more cheering before he walks off into the sunset. But again, that doesn’t mean he’s blind to what he’s exposed to every time he answers the bell. Every fighter knows that. But that’s why they’re one-percenters in this world. They know the risks, but they still walk into the fray anyway.

“When you’re a fighter, you do see things like that and things can spring into your mind and worry you, but at the same time, what are you in the sport for?” Conlan asks. “You have to sacrifice a little to receive a lot and I am aware that I am in that one percent to be able to put that thought out of your mind and go in there and compete at the highest level in dangerous situations. Boxing is a sport, but your life is at risk every time you step into the ring, and that’s the truth. The fact that I’m able to put that behind me and put that in the back of my head, I am kind of proud of that. But some people use that pride too much and you go in there to take some damage and it becomes less pride and more stupidity. So I am aware, but I’m able to go in there and box how I want to box and fight how I want to fight. I know when I need to dig down and I can dig as deep as I need to, but at the same time I’m not gonna stand there and take punches to the head and be called brave.”

Michael Conlan gets it. Not everyone does. So when it’s his time to go, he’ll know it, and he’ll be able to bask in past glories with his family and not have to wonder what would have happened had he done things the right way and stayed on the right path. He’s made all the right moves thus far, and if you need any more proof, just read about the plans for his next trip to New York City.

“When January comes around, I know I’ve got to keep my weight so when I get to New York, I’ll get some nice cannolis and stuff.”

An Irishman grabbing cannolis in NYC. Now that’s a citizen of the world.