MICHAEL Conlan now has world title options at featherweight and super-bantamweight after he came of age as a professional prizefighter with a dominant victory over TJ Doheny on an unforgettable night at Falls Park.
Conlan won the WBC interim featherweight belt with a resounding points win over Doheny on Friday and could now challenge Nottingham’s Leigh Wood for the outright title.
However, the Doheny fight was originally reckoned to be an eliminator for a crack at the winner of the super-bantamweight unification rumble between Stephen Fulton and Brandon Figueroa on September 11. The WBC, WBA and WBO belt are on the line in that one and Conlan insisted he can still make super-bantamweight but would he be as effective as he was on Friday night?
“My options are open,” said Conlan, who hopes to be in the ring fighting for a world title close to Christmas this year or on St Patrick’s weekend in New York next year, but the next move will take careful planning.
“I’m going to wait and see. I going to wait and see what happens on September 11 between Fulton and Figureoa. I always said I was going to do 122lbs and I’m not saying: ‘Oh, I’m going to fight Leigh Wood now’. My options are open, I can still make 122lbs comfortably so if that opportunity is there and that’s next then it happens.”
Everything went to plan for Conlan, and Conlan Boxing, on Friday. The rain stayed away and a packed house relished a series of entertaining fights and an excellent bill reached a crescendo after victories for Pody McCrory, Tyrone McKenna, Paddy Donovan and Lee McGregor before Conlan took centre stage
“What a night, what an atmosphere,” he said.
“TJ was game. He’s a tough, tough dude.
“My evasiveness and elusiveness is something I’ve always had. I picked up a lot of the bodyshots and the inside work when I lived in LA and me and Adam have kind of revised that. I think I showed different aspects of my game – orthodox, southpaw, counterpunching, attacking… I loved it.”
Meanwhile, in the chief support, Lee McGregor turned a fight that threatened to slip away from him on its head with one well placed, powerful shot to retain his EBU European Bantamweight title against Vincent Legrand.
Ben Davidson-trained ‘Lightning’ was dropped in the second and out-worked in the other two rounds but when he slipped a right hook beneath Legrand’s guard in the fourth the Frenchman never looked like beating Victor Laughlin’s count.
“It’s another step in the road and another step in my journey towards being a world champion,” he said afterwards.
“I can’t wait to get back in the gym and keep on getting better. You live and learn.”
Earlier, his fight lasted just 82 seconds but Limerick welterweight Paddy Donovan gave notice of his ability, oozing quality with a memorable win over outclassed Jose Luis Castillo.
Confident and clever, Donovan look composed from the outset, spearing a jab into his opponent’s midsection and when outclassed Castillo moved into range he dropped him with a thumping left hook to the body. Referee Hugh Russell junior counted Castillo out and Donovan moved to 7-0 and goes in search of bigger and better things.
