By Elliot Foster
Michael Conlan has had his debut opponent confirmed.
The Ulsterman, 25, will open his account in the paid code on March 17 in New York.
Conlan, who joined up with Bob Arum's Top Rank last September and has a managerial deal with Macklin's Gym Marbella, made the decision to turn over after a glittering amateur career in which he became the world, European and Commonwealth champion and won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics in London.
His debut is set for the Theater at Madison Square Garden on St Patrick's Day and his foe has already been named, despite there being just over seven weeks until fight night.
The younger Conlan, whose brother Jamie is the WBO Inter-Continental champion at super-flyweight, will campaign at super-bantamweight and will come up against Tim Ibarra (4-4, 1 KO).
Ibarra, from Colorado, was last in action in December as he was outpointed by Jose Gonzalez in Philadelphia.
The 26-year-old will be a familiar foe to Conlan's trainer Manny Robles, who was in the corner when his son Manny Robles Jr knocked him out in the first round back in 2012.
Conlan has recently relocated to the States –– to Carson, California –– in order to train with Robles at The Rock Gym alongside former Irish teammate Jason Quigley, who is 12-0 with 10 KOs.
A press conference billed 'Conlan To America' is to be hosted at 4pm UK time on Wednesday (11am ET, 8am PT) at Madison Square Garden's Chase Square to formally announce the fight. You can watch it live at http://bit.ly/2k0WLej.
For the announcement, Conlan will be joined by his promoter Todd duBoef, who is the Top Rank president, and manager Matthew Macklin.