Heralded Irish amateur Michael “Mick” Conlan, a two-time Olympian, and the team around him, Top Rank and manager Matthew Macklin, no doubt see a lot of green in their future.
Green, as in the passionate Irish fan base Conlan is expected to draw to his fights in both New York and Ireland, and all the money he figures to generate if he lives up to his considerable potential.
Conlan and his team were on hand Wednesday at Madison Square Garden in New York to kick off the promotion for his professional debut, which will take place March 17 — St. Patrick’s Day — at what is expected to be a sold-out Theater at Madison Square Garden.
The 25-year-old Conlan will face Tim Ibarra (4-4, 1 KOs), 26, of Denver, in a scheduled six-round match at 124 pounds in a fight that will headline the card and be televised in the United States on Top Rank’s “Solo Boxeo” series on UniMas.
According to Top Rank and Conlan, countryman and UFC superstar Conor McGregor has accepted Conlan’s invitation to walk him into the ring for the fight.
“It’s been a dream for me to come here. I still feel a bit overwhelmed being here in the Garden,” Conlan said from the podium Wednesday. “For my debut to be here, on St. Patrick’s Day, is going to be something really, really special. The journey’s gonna be a good one.”
Conlan said his career goal is to win world titles at junior featherweight, featherweight and junior lightweight.
“I truly believe in my ability. I’m a fighter who speaks with complete confidence at all times,” he said. “No matter who’s in front of me, no matter what day it is, no one’s going to beat me. I feel with Top Rank and Matthew Macklin behind me we’re going all the way to the top.”
When Top Rank signed Conlan after the Olympics, company executives were overjoyed to have landed the fighter on top of their talent board. They refer to him as their “first-round draft pick.”
Company executives wanted him for his boxing talent as well as his charisma, personality and a built-in fan base with the Irish community, which is known to show tremendous support for its fighters.
“We had going into the Olympics kind of the hit list of who we wanted, who we thought had some special qualities,” Top Rank president Todd duBoef said. “And our matchmakers, Matthew knows them very well — Bruce (Trampler) and Brad Goodman. These guys had Michael at the top of the list.
“If we could get him, if we could work out a partnership with him, we needed the Madison Square Garden. We needed New York. New York, the East Coast, is the hub for all of boxing, but we also know this is (home to) the Irish base. (Conlan is) someone who’s going to sell this house out for many years to come.”
Joel Fisher, executive vice president of MSG Marquee Events, has brought many fighters to Madison Square Garden over the years but seemed especially enthusiastic about Conlan making it his American base.
“We want this to be his home, where he fights and fights often,” Fisher said.
Conlan was a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, Ireland’s first male amateur world champion in 2015, and a 2016 Olympian, whose run ended at the Rio de Janeiro Games controversially when he lost a decision to Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin in the quarterfinals of the bantamweight tournament in a fight he clearly seemed to win handily. The result was partly responsible for the International Boxing Association (AIBA), which oversees amateur boxing, sending several judges and referees home from Rio for failing to perform up to the expected standard.
After the loss, an emotional Conlan gave double middle fingers to the judges while still in the ring and then ripped them and AIBA. Conlan had so dominated Nikitin that he was too busted up to fight in the semifinals and withdrew from the competition, giving American Shakur Stevenson a walkover into the gold-medal match.
Following the Olympics, Conlan was sought after, but Macklin, a retired former middleweight contender, said signing with Top Rank was a “no brainer” after it reached out to him. He knows all about its history of developing fighters into stars.
“I understand what Top Rank do, how they build the brand, what they’ve done with Miguel Cotto, particularly, because I think New York is very important,” Macklin said. “I think Madison Square Garden is very important in playing a part in Mick’s journey, so when I told Todd I understood the bigger picture he’s talking about, but I still need to go back to Michael and make this work from a financial point of view, him and Carl went away and within a day or two they came back and we put the deal together.
“I just can’t wait for this to get started. I know firsthand what it’s going to be like boxing on St. Patrick’s Day in the Theater at Madison Square Garden. It’ll be atmosphere like something Mick’s never experienced before, even though he’s boxed all over the world. Madison Square Garden on St. Patrick’s Day is something special.”
On St. Patrick’s Day weekend in 2012, Macklin headlined at the Theater, challenging then-middleweight world champion Sergio Martinez for the title, although he got knocked out in the 11th round.
Conlan has put the amateur disappointment behind him as he embarks on his professional career. He has moved to Los Angeles, where he is training with Manny Robles in Carson, California. He’ll be back in training camp Thursday and will spar with two of Robles’ top fighters — featherweight world titleholder Oscar Valdez and junior featherweight world titlist Jessie Magdaleno.
“He’s adapting to the American lifestyle, the food, sparring professionally,” Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti said. “He’s moved to California to get acclimated to everything. The only thing he hasn’t gotten used to is driving on the right side of the road in LA of all places. We worry about that more than anything. Everything in the ring is probably the safest place for him.”
Added Robles: “I believe the kid has a very bright future in boxing. Now that he will no longer be fighting for trophies, but instead for world titles he will be faced with greater responsibilities. He and I both are ready to take on this new challenge. It is an opportunity I feel humbled by. He is an incredible fighter who will put on an incredible fight. And as his coach I am ready to play my role in making sure he does not disappoint his fans, but instead proves to them that he is ready to take on the world.”
Top Rank has brought many fighters from the Olympics into the pros and built them into champions and stars, including Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather and Cotto. It hopes to do the same with Conlan. It made Puerto Rican Parade weekend in New York a regular date for Cotto at the Garden and it will look to do the same for Conlan on St. Patrick’s Day weekend.
“He’s with the best people in the sport,” Macklin said. “Top Rank, time and time again, they’ve brought amateurs from the Olympics and turned them not only into world champions but into superstars.”
Conlan hopes to be the next one and said he is ready to get started.
“I’m truly grateful for the opportunity and I hope to make St Paddy’s Day weekend at the Garden an annual event,” Conlan said. “I have the hopes of a nation behind me and I can’t wait to go out and put on a performance for Ireland on St Patrick’s Day!”
