Michael Conlan was pleased to start building again after he came through eight rounds following more than a year out.

On March 7, Conlan defeated Asad Asif Khan on a Channel 5 broadcast topped by Harlem Eubank-Tyrone McKenna that brought in an audience of 2.35m UK homes and set Conlan up for a shot at Spain’s European featherweight champion Cristobal Lorente, who is 20-0-1 (8 KOs).  

The 33-year-old Irishman is with a new coach, Grant Smith, and new promoter, Wasserman Boxing, but revealed that he suffered some hand damage in victory and that that could delay his plans for 2025.

“The next one will be in the summer,” Conlan told BoxingScene. “I’ve got a slight hand injury. It was going to be May time, but my hand, I’ll have to get it scanned next week, so once we’ve got it scanned, I can find out what date I’ll be back, but I’d say June-July, I think. That should be the kind of date. 

“I’ll be back in the gym before the end of this month. Obviously I won’t be punching that much with the left hand, but I’ll be back in the gym working away, staying fit, and that’s the thing, because I stay in shape and stay ready all the time.” 

Lorente, 28, was presented in the ring after the fight, during which Conlan felt increasingly confident and relaxed. 

“I felt great being back out there after the first few rounds,” he said. “The first couple of rounds… at the start I was finding myself and after round three I started to feel back at home. And I was seeing things that I’d been doing with Grant falling into place and I was following instruction from the corner, so I was happy.

“I feel great, especially after getting that win out of the way because there was an awful lot of self-pressure, I suppose. It was a long, long time out of the ring. Over 400 days, something like that, I heard them say, and I felt it. And before the fight I didn’t feel nerves, it was like, ‘This is different’. 

“I usually feel nervous, but I suppose because when you’re in the moment you don’t feel nerves and I was just in the moment and now I look forward to the next one and I definitely feel I’ve got the cobwebs off and I’m excited about the next fight – a European title fight – the second fight with Wasserman.
“I’m probably going faster than I initially set out to, but I believe it’s what I need to get up for it and excited for it, and to put the work in and also to get back into the position I want to get into.”

Conlan, 19-3 (9 KOs) and one of Ireland’s great amateurs having fought at two Olympics, was returning after consecutive losses, to Luis Lopez and Jordan Gill, and wants one more charge at a world title.