Some Red faces

MUNSTER were soundly beaten by Scarlets last night in the final of the Pro 12.

Rassie Erasmus’ men were never in the game from the first whistle and the Welsh ran out deserved winners.

MICHAEL CONLAN has demanded a tougher challenge for his next ring outing after a facile victory in his second professional bout on Friday night.

The world amateur champion stopped awkward Mexican journeyman Alfredo Chanez in three rounds at the UIC Pavilion to move to 2-0 as pro. And Conlan will move on to an undercard slot in support of Manny Pacquiao’s world welterweight title defence in Brisbane in July. It is understood that former Australian title challenger, Jarrett Owen, is likely to be in the opposite corner for that bout. The 31-year-old carries a winning 5-4-3 record and Conlan will hope he presents a sterner test after a dominant yet frustrating victory over Chanez.

The Mexican was awkward throughout the three rounds on Friday night, rolling around on the canvas after a borderline low blow while he was reluctant to engage at any stage.

“I can’t wait to get back out and put in a better performance,” said Conlan. “That fight annoyed me. Why would you be pleased after that? I wouldn’t be. I know I’m a lot better than I got to show everyone.

“It’s very hard to look good against these guys, but it’s done and I got the victory and I’ll move on to the next one.”

Chanez was put on the deck in the first round after Conlan landed a right upper cut seconds after the Mexican took two solid right hooks to the head. While Chanez carried a modest 4-4 record into the fight, he had never been stopped in his four previous losses, but a knockout appeared inevitable from the opening bell in Chicago as Conlan looked to successfully follow up his debut win over American Tim Ibarra on St Patrick’s Day in New York.

However, Chanez managed to survive the opener and the highlight of his Oscar-worthy performance came in the second round when the Mexican dramatically crawled around the canvas after a unintentional low blow from Conlan.

“I hope it doesn’t reflect badly on me because I wanted to put in a good performance and there’s a lot of attention on me topping bills,” added the 25-year-old, who once again attracted a vocal Irish crowd to support him.