Michael Conlan Shines in Belfast Homecoming

Published by Shawn C.

*Michael “Mick” Conlan* returned home to Belfast and got back on the
winning track. Conlan, who lost a featherweight title bid in March,
defeated *Miguel Marriaga *by unanimous decision in the 10-round
featherweight main event Saturday at The SSE Arena.

Conlan (17-1, 8 KOs) prevailed by scores of 99-88 2x and 99-89, securing
knockdowns in the seventh, eighth, and ninth rounds. Marriaga (30-6, 26
KOs), a three-time world title challenger, dropped to 1-3 in his last four
fights but showed a flourish of his vaunted power. In the 10th round, he
buckled Conlan, and there were anxious moments for both men navigating the
slippery canvas.

Conlan got the result the packed house came to see. He then called for a
rematch with Leigh Wood, the WBA champion who scored a come-from-behind
12th-round knockout in a modern boxing classic.

Conlan said, “I had to get rid of a lot of demons tonight. Even in the
fuc*ing last round, he hit me with a shot. That guy can punch. {He has} 10
more knockouts than I have fights. He hit me with a jab in the first round,
and it was like, ‘Oh, this guy actually can bang.’ I had to be careful and
use my skills, which I did. In the last round, he caught me with a shot.
Listen, I’ve been using my legs all night. I was a bit off the pace. He was
pushing it. He landed a good shot. He buckled me a little bit. I felt it,
and for me, to kind of come through that and it’s the last round… I got
knocked out in my last fight in the last round. I think that says a lot.
I’m back, baby. I’m ready for any of them.

“Obviously, I want Leigh Wood. It’s obvious, but Leigh has his own
situation. So, hopefully he can deal with that and come through and the
rematch can be done. If not, it’s any other champion. I want to get back
in. I will be world champion, and I know I will. Whoever I face, I know
I’ll beat him.”

*In other action:Welterweight*: Tyrone McKenna (23-3-1, 6 KOs) UD 10 Chris
Jenkins (23-6-3, 8 KOs), Scores: 96-95 2x and 97-94. Jenkins, a former
British and Commonwealth welterweight champion, appeared to do enough to
earn the victory, but the three judges ruled in favor of Belfast native
McKenna. It was a battle of Jenkins’ steady pressure against southpaw
volume McKenna, and the two waged a phone booth affair. McKenna recovered
from a barrage of body blows to have counterpunching success in the ninth
and 10th rounds.

*Junior Middleweight: *Kieran Molloy (2-0, 2 KOs) TKO 2 Evgenii Vazem
(9-36, 7 KOs), 1:23. Molloy, from Galway, Ireland, shined in pro bout
number two with a devastating performance over Vazem. Early in the second,
a four-punch combination, punctuated by a right hook to the body, put Vazem
down for the count.

Molloy said, “I fit right in here. I’m an entertainer. I’m a good fighter,
and I proved tonight that I’m a good boxer as well. I didn’t even look for
that shot. I just landed that uppercut a few times. His elbows were coming
up, and it was a nice, sinking body shot, so I just took it.”

*Super Middleweight: *Padraig McCrory (14-0, 8 KOs) TKO 5 Marco Antonio
Periban (26-6-1, 17 KOs), 2:14. McCory moved his knockout streak to four
with a one-sided drubbing over the former world title challenger. Periban
was dropped three times in the fifth round, the final blows coming courtesy
of a quick-trigger combination that knocked him into a neutral corner. The
referee waved off the fight, and McCrory secured the second defense of his
WBC International Silver belt.

*Featherweight*: Kurt Walker (3-0, 1 KO) PTS 6 Marcos Gabriel Martinez
(18-4, 5 KOs), Score: 59-55. Walker, a 2020 Tokyo Olympian, stepped up in
class and used his superior lateral movement and combination punching to
stymie Argentina’s Martinez. Walker, who is signed to Top Rank, turned pro
earlier this year and hopes to take the express lane to title contention at
27 years old.

*Welterweight*: Paddy Donovan (9-0, 6 KOs) PTS 8 Tom Hill (10-3, 2 KOs),
Score: 80-72. The Irish southpaw sensation returned from injury — and a
nearly six-month layoff — to shut out Hill. It was the first scheduled
eight-rounder for Donovan, a 23-year-old who is trained and managed by
former middleweight world champion Andy Lee.

Donovan said, “It’s very important to get the rounds in. Tommy is a very,
very tough fighter. We knew that before. He hopped in the ring before he
accepted the challenge. He’s beat the Irish number one welterweight,
knocking him down twice in the fight, so we know what he’s capable of.”