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There cannot be too many fighters who get to top the bill on their professional debut, much less thousands of miles away from home in New York at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. Such is the impression Michael Conlan has made on his new paymasters at Top Rank, that is exactly the stage they have laid on for this charismatic and highly-skilled operator.
Our return visit to the fight city of Belfast on Friday night was a bit of a slow burner to begin with and took a little while to spark into life, but when it did the entertainment value at the Waterfront Hall cranked up and, once again, Jamie Conlan more than played his part.
I was saddened to hear of the passing of the great trainer-manager Lou Duva this week, at the age of 94. Lou, with his near 70 years in the game, was a proper old school boxing man and will be missed by all who knew him. His work was recognised by his induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, an honour which resulted from his involvement with some 17 world title holders, including f Evander Holyfield, Pernell Whitaker, Tyrell Biggs and Mike McCallum.
When Gervonta Davis burst onto the global scene and parted Jose Pedraza from his IBF world super featherweight title back in January, the commentators and pundits were lavish with the praise and plaudits over the exploits of the Baltimore banger. Terms such as ‘a star is born’ and ‘the future of boxing’ were bandied about but, as far as I’m concerned, his future in the company of that IBF belt will be a short-lived one.
The 114-114 tally submitted by British judge Ian John Lewis following the WBC world title contest between Rey Vargas and Doncaster’s Gavin McDonnell in Hull last weekend does the game over here no favours at all. Admirably, McDonnell and his team took no comfort from being scored all square on Lewis’ card, quickly stating that it was wrong and he clearly lost the fight.
Boxing fans who keep an eye on events beyond these shores will be fully aware that the genuine marquee fight this weekend takes place some 3,500-odd miles away from Greenwich. The Barclays Center in New York plays host to a coming together of welterweight champions, with Danny Garcia and Keith Thurman putting their world championship belts and unbeaten records on the line to establish who is the current king of the 147-pounders.
While punters are probably hedging their bets over the outcome of Garcia v Thurman, the bookies have certainly nailed their colours to the mast in pricing up the match between David Haye and Tony Bellew at London’s 02 Arena this weekend. Taking a glance at one major betting site, they have Haye pretty much nailed on at 1/6, the sort of price that tempts the high rollers into buying money.
The last time Amir Khan was having the heat turned on him to sign up and finally face Kell Brook he pulled a rabbit out of the hat with the shock announcement that he was to face the formidable Canelo Alvarez.
In amongst all the exciting plans we are mapping out for the coming months lies a real genuine gem of a fight, one that I personally am particularly looking forward to. A world title fight for the excellent Liam Walsh has been a long time in the making, due to various injuries and misfortune, but now it is definitely happening. It is just a case of where and when.
Adrien Broner is doing a pretty good job of trying to convince everybody that the penny has finally dropped and he is ready to dedicate himself to his boxing career. He might even have looked up the word humble in the dictionary if recent interviews are anything to go by.