Top Rank Card With Big International Flavor For St. Patrick's Day
By Francisco Salazar
NEW YORK CITY - By the looks of it, tonight's Top Rank card inside the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City could rival a United Nations meeting.
Combatants from four different countries will square off in separate bouts.
For Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, he is glad his company is moving in that international direction.
In the main event, Michael Conlan of Northern Ireland will face Tim Ibarra of Colorado. A large contingent of Irish fans, both local and abroad, will make up a large chunk of the crowd.
Ability and marketability has been a cornerstone of Top Rank's pursuit of top talent, especially those who fight in the Olympics, according to Top Rank matchmaker Brad Goodman.
Three of those four fighters fought in last summer's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Goodman traveled to Rio, scouting talent during the duration of the Games.
Goodman has an excellent eye for talent, and is said to be one of, if not, the best matchmaker in boxing.
Conlan will likely continue fighting on the East Coast, as rumor amongst boxing circles is the 25-year-old could return to the ring in May, with the likely destination in the Boston area. Top Rank could even have Conlan fight on in Southern California, where he trains at the Rock Gym in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson.
Conlan will face a fighter in Ibarra (4-4, 1 KO), who has mostly fought as a bantamweight in his brief pro career. He has lost three of his last five bouts.
In the co-feature, unbeaten Alex Saucedo will face Johnny Garcia in a 10 round welterweight bout.
Saucedo (23-0, 14 KOs) resides in Oklahoma City, but is originally from Meoqui, Chihuahua, Mexico. He is currently trains in Big Bear Lake, Calif. with Abel Sanchez.
In his last bout on November 4, Saucedo won a hard-fought eight round unanimous decision over Raymond Serrano in Las Vegas.
Garcia (19-4-1, 11 KOs) is winless in his last four bouts. In his last bout in December of 2015, Garcia lost an eight round unanimous decision to Jose Ramirez, although he did score a knockdown of Garcia during the fight.
Garcia scored the best win of his career on paper in March of 2012, when he was able to grind out an eight round split decision win over Yordenis Ugas.
In the opening bout of 'Solo Boxeo' broadcast, which will air on UniMas (11 p.m. ET/ PT), Robson Conceicao of Brazil will square off against late-sub Aaron Hollis in a six round junior lightweight bout.
Conceicao (2-0, 1 KOs), who won a gold medal at last summer's Olympic Games, scored a second round knockout over Aaron Ely on January 27.
After winning his first three bout of his career, Hollis (3-4, 2 KOs) has lost his last four bouts.
In non-televised action, Teofimo Lopez (2-0, 2 KOs) faces Daniel Bastien (4-3, 1 KO) of Mexico in a six round lightweight bout.
Lopez, who resides in Davie, Florida, represented Honduras in Rio de Janeiro. Bastien has lost his last two bouts.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
