WHERE there’s a will, there’s a way believes Michael Conlan and, after a year in the boxing wilderness, he will return for a “last roll of the dice” next March.
Conlan seriously considered retirement when he lost to Jordan Gill in Belfast a year ago. That loss meant he had suffered back-to-back stoppage defeats and for weeks it seemed the road would end for Conlan short of his world title dream.
Who knows, maybe he’ll never get there but he’s going to give it another go because he says his fighting heart is still intact and he has the desire to fight and the will to win.
The Gill defeat seemed like the end for Conlan who never looked himself in the fight. He was put down in the second round by the English outsider and although he fought his way back into the contest Gill turned the screw and stopped him in the seventh.
“In the immediate aftermath of losing to Gill I was thinking about retirement,” he says.
“I was saying: ‘That’s it done’. It lasted for a few weeks and then I got into the running and when I was running it helped clear my head and it made me think more.
“I did 900 miles between December last year and April. I was running the roads and I had an awful lot of time to think, an awful lot of time to consider stuff and that’s what I did.
“It’s been a good break and it’s been needed.
“This is the longest I’ve ever been out of the ring. I’ve sparred twice in the last month but that’s all I’ve done since December last year. You lose an awful lot of ring fitness, I always stay in shape and stay fit but there’s a difference between being fit and having ring fitness so I need to make sure I build it up right.
“I’m feeling good, I’m happy, I’m in a good place mentally and I’m ready to get back to business.”
Since that loss Conlan has taken control of his affairs outside the ring and will conduct negotiations with promoters himself. He has a new coach too in Sheffield’s Grant Smith after he parted company with Miami-based Pedro Diaz.
He intends to return to action in March – he doesn’t know where or who against and says his first fight will be at “comeback level”.
“I’ve got a new coach, I’m not rushing back into anything,” he says.
“I’m keeping my head down,, I’m not calling anybody out, I’m not getting in anybody’s face. I just need to get back, build my confidence and get used to the new coach in my corner.
“I’m not rushing it this time, everything in the past has been quite rushed to be honest so I’m going to take my time and do it the right way.
“I believe I still have the ability to go and win a world title or I wouldn’t be boxing. I need to make sure I do it correctly and make the right decisions.”
PHYSICALLY Sunny Edwards looked the part as he walked to the ring for his world title eliminator against Galal Yafai last weekend.
He was in good shape but there was a faraway look in his eye and when the moment came for him to bite down and fight, his heart just wasn’t in it.
After two rounds, the former IBF world champion told his corner forlornly: “I don’t want to be here”.
He got a telling off from his coach and boxed on into the sixth but with the contest becoming increasingly one-sided, the referee stepped in and called it off. The end presumably came as a relief for Edwards and his career is over now.
After losing to Gill, Michael Conlan felt like that but gradually he came to realise that his fighting heart was intact and his will to win remained rock solid.
“I knew there was more to achieve,” he says.
“I have goals to reach and I realised I wasn’t willing to walk away content with what I’ve done. So I decided to roll the dice one more time and I know it will be the final roll, it definitely will. If I was to lose again, it’s over for me.
“But I still do have that drive and that want to win and that’s the most important thing.
“Sunny came out and said publicly that he just didn’t have the drive any more but I still have it, I still want to achieve and I still believe.
“It’s not in my make-up to go: ‘Nah, that’s it’. I’m not willing to do that, I’m willing to risk it again to get to where I want to get to so whoever I sign with has to be the right plan, the right route to where I want to get.
“I’m in negotiations at the minute and I’m handling everything myself, controlling my own ship and making the right decisions.”
Conlan started out as a professional at super-bantam but has fought most of his career at featherweight. He intends to return at nine stone but doesn’t rule out a step up to super-feather.
“Going forward, featherweight is the weight I’ll but if there’s bigger opportunities and things present themselves at super-featherweight then, 100 per cent, I can do that but if that happens I’ll take a bit of time to build into it properly,” he explained.
“The last time I did it (against Gill) was because I had six weeks’ training and I was asked and said: ‘Yeah, no problem I’ll do that’. It suited me because it meant I didn’t have to cut too much weight but I don’t need to do that now.
“I’m walking round the same weight I would be two weeks’ before a fight at featherweight usually. I’ve stayed in shape, I’ve stayed fit and I’m looking forward to rolling them again.
“I’ll be training over Christmas, I’ll head over to Sheffield and get another spar in. I was sparring last week against Qais Ashfaq, the guy I fought in the (2014) Commonwealth Games final, who has a fight next week.
“I felt good, I felt sharp and in control. For my second spar back I was happy, the coach was very happy and we’re now looking forward to a proper training camp together.”
