Michael Conlan will not make the same mistakes he made in his shock stoppage defeat against Jordan Gill back in December 2023 when he faces Jack Bateson on Friday in Dublin.
Conlan found himself in a similar position back then. Coming off a stoppage defeat to Luis Alberto Lopez (TKO5), he was given Gill in what was supposed to be a routine victory before pushing on for another shot at a world championship. The bout didn’t work out the way Conlan had hoped, and he was stopped inside seven rounds.
Many thought that was the last we had seen of Conlan, but he launched a comeback earlier this year with a scrappy win over Asad Asif Khan in March. Conlan, who will now face Bateson at Dublin’s 3 Arena, was asked by BoxingScene if there are lessons he can take from the Gill fight into Friday’s contest.
“Maybe not to underestimate and shit like that,” Conlan replied. “You know, the Gill camp, I probably had six weeks of actual training. The fight was around eight weeks out. I had a new coach and all at the time, so it's all little things you can learn from – and I have, so I've not underestimated Jack. No matter if he thinks that – I think he said in an interview, they think I'm underestimating his power and all this stuff – but Jack has not been underestimated at all.”
Conlan still believes he can lift a world championship, after previously failing against Leigh Wood (TKO12) in 2022, and Lopez (TKO7) in 2023. Bateson is the man preventing him from getting closer to his goal, and he has trained accordingly.
“Listen, Jack's a good fighter,” Conlan said. “I've known Jack for a long time. I've done rounds with Jack over the years. I know him from the amateurs and stuff, he's a good boxer, a good technical boxer. A lot of respect for him, and this is his opportunity, because, listen, I'm still a name, no matter what anybody says. I know he's going to come to try and get his career back on track and take my head off, so I've got to be very prepared, and I am, so I'm looking forward to it.
“I've had a fantastic training camp. I've been away from my family for 12 weeks and put an awful lot of work into this. As I said, the next time I lose, it will be me calling it a day, so I don't want this to be it. I want to put everything I can into trying to be a world champion again, so I've definitely done that. I'm feeling fantastic and very excited about next week.”
Tom Ivers is an amateur boxer who has a masters degree in sports journalism. He had his first bout in 2013, joined BoxingScene in 2024 and is now a key part of the UK and social media teams.
