Conlan eyeing bigger things
MICHAEL CONLAN expects Tim Ibarra to be ‘like a deer in the headlights’ when the pair clash in front of a raucous Irish crowd at Madison Square Garden’s Theater tonight.
World amateur champion Conlan finally crosses over to the professional ranks in the wee hours of Saturday morning (Irish time) as he competes in his first paid fight in the Big Apple, taking on Colorado’s Ibarra in a six-rounder headliner at 124lbs.
With UFC star Conor McGregor set to walk the 25-year-old Irish debutant to the ring, promoters Top Rank are hoping their star signing kick-starts his pro career in style in front of what is expected to be a sell-out crowd of around 5,000 fight fans.
Colorado native Ibarra is a novice journeyman with an unimpressive 4-4 record and he is not expected to present much of a challenge to Conlan on the Belfast switch-hitter’s big night.
‘He could get overwhelmed with the crowd, it’s going to be like a deer in the headlights,’ said Conlan. ‘I am not sure he’s expecting too many Irish people there. He’s saying that I can hold my afterparty in Ireland because he is bringing two dozen people, but I’m bringing almost 5,000!
‘He’ll be shell shocked. He’ll need to have a loud two dozen cheering him on — maybe they can bring some fog horns or vuvuzelas!’
Tonight’s bout marks five years to the day since Conlan’s manager, Matthew Macklin, lost out to then world middleweight kingpin Sergio Martinez at the same venue.
‘It’s mad that’s it’s five years,’ said Macklin. ‘I have fond memories, not so fond in the sense I didn’t get the win but with the atmosphere and it was a great fight, so it’ll be nice to have Mick boxing there on the anniversary of it.’
Conlan was busy boxing for Ireland at the Chemisty Cup in Germany back in 2012 when Macklin was fighting at the Garden. The Belfast native went on to claim Olympic bronze along with world, European and Commonwealth gold before his controversial exit from the Rio Games last summer eventually led to his pro move under Top Rank.
With Ibarra considered a nohoper, Conlan admits that the pressure of tonight’s grand occasion represents more of a challenge than his 26-year-old opponent is likely to present.
‘There’s 100 per cent pressure, but I do thrive on that,’ said Conlan. ‘It is what makes me a better fighter.
‘At the same time people are going to think that I’m going to go in and blow this guy away in 20 seconds, but the journeymen in America are different from the [weaker] ones back home.
‘He’s not a bum,’ claimed Conlan, who dismissed Ibarra’s claims that he will surprise the debutant by giving him a wake-up call to the harsh reality of the pro game.
‘If he wants to talk s** to me, he can talk as much as he wants — he’s still getting knocked out,’ the 25-year-old added ahead of the bout that will be shown live on BoxNation before a delayed RTÉ broadcast tomorrow night.
Ibarra claims his opponent’s confidence doesn’t bother him.
‘At the end of the day when we get in that ring, he’s just another guy,’ said Ibarra.
Confident Conlan believes he will claim a world title within two years and he already has an aim to overtake two-weight world champ Carl Frampton as Irish boxing’s leading man.
Frampton also happens to be in New York as he was presented with the Boxing Writers’ Association of America Sugar Ray Robinson 2016 Fighter of the Year award in the Bowery.
However, Conlan reckons he has the skills to eventually outshine his fellow Belfast fighter.
‘I can go a lot bigger and better than what Frampton has achieved,’ claimed Conlan. ‘I am main event at Madison Square Garden from the get go. Name me one other fighter who’s done that? It is special and we will take over. I will be 100 per cent bigger than him [Frampton]. He’s done a lot but I know that I’ll be better.
‘I want to move at a decent pace and hopefully by the end of year two of my pro career I am world champion or at least in contention.’
Conlan weighed in at 122.8lbs, with Ibarra one pound heavier ahead of the bout which is held at a 124lb catchweight between the super-bantam and featherweight limits.
Limerick’s Andy Lee will be in action at the Garden’s main arena tomorrow night. The former WBO world champion has an eightrounder against Alabama’s KeAndrae Letherwood.