RINGSIDE REPORTS
The Irish celebrate as debutant Conlan stars on Saint Patrick’s Day
From New York to London, via Denmark, Australia, Manchester etc, etc, etc
IT was not your typical pro debut. A raucous sell-out crowd of 5,102 inside the Madison Square Garden Theater. A deafening ringwalk with UFC superstar Conor Mcgregor in tow. An Irish dance troupe providing pre-fight entertainment in the ring. Michael Conlan’s professional bow was certainly out of the ordinary.
Spare a thought for the opponent, Denver’s unheralded Tim Ibarra, who had to stare out from the squared circle into a sea of green in the stands. Fuelled by Guinness and the festivities of Saint Patrick’s Day, the fiercely pro-conlan fans sung their hearts out in reverence to the former Irish amateur star.
The scheduled six-rounder began with Conlan dishing out stiff jabs, as an animated Mcgregor yelled words of encouragement from ringside.
The switch-hitting Belfast superbantamweight landed a trio of rapid left hooks to the ribs in the opener, before just missing with a whipping right cross in the second. However, it wouldn’t be long before he made his mark on Ibarra.
After forcing the American to the ropes in the third, Conlan unleashed a furious flurry of hooks from both hands, leading referee Benjy Esteves to step in and halt the contest at 0-59. As the stoppage occurred, Mcgregor [inset, on left] hurled an Irish flag into the ring in celebration. The official’s intervention may have come a tad early, but Ibarra’s prospects for the rest of the bout – had it continued – would have been undoubtedly bleak.
Top Rank-promoted Conlan, 25, who will next be out on May 12 or May 19 in Boston, was understandably overwhelmed by the vociferous backing he received on the night. Immediately after the clash, he said: “If I go on to fight for a world title in the future, I can say that I’ve already experienced a world title-type atmosphere. It was crazy. I mean, who has a crowd like this on their debut? It was something that I could never have even dreamed of.”
Oklahoma City-based Mexico native
Alex Saucedo – a welterweight trained by Gennady Golovkin’s coach, Abel Sanchez – wasted little time against Holland, Michigan’s Johnny Garcia. A jolting short left hand dropped Garcia in the first, before an onslaught of heavy hooks caused referee Steve Smoger to terminate proceedings at 2-42 of the second. It had been set for eight. Brazil’s 2016 Olympic gold medallist Robson Conceição needed just 36 seconds of round two to dispatch Cincinnati southpaw Aaron Hollis. The South American super-featherweight floored Hollis with a vicious two-fisted assault in the first, prior to forcing the stoppage in the next with an assortment of aggressive hooks. Shada Murdaugh refereed the slated six-rounder.
Mr Murdaugh also oversaw another second-session win for a 2016 Olympian in a bout scheduled for six. Brooklynborn Florida resident Teofimo Lopez, who represented Honduras at last year’s Games, felled Mexico’s Daniel Bastien for the full 10-count at 0-39 with an array of slicing shots to head and body. The teenage lightweight performed a backflip to mark his triumph.
Local super-bantam portsider Jose Gonzalez – the cousin of former fourweight world champion Roman Gonzalez – scored two knockdowns en route to defeating Queens-based Dominican
Jhovany Collado 60-53 for all three judges. Mr Esteves officiated.
The same referee was in charge as popular welterweight Larry Fryers – an Irishman who lives in New York – won 40-35 on all three scorecards against Seattle’s game Gabriel Solorio, who was decked in the first by an arcing right.
A first-round knockdown cost rangy Bronx-based Filipino Ben Garcia, who suffered a points loss (40-35 and 38-37 twice) to Puerto Rican super-lightweight
Alexander Picot. Mr Smoger refereed.
THE VERDICT A bright future lies ahead for the massively marketable Conlan.