Conlan an amateur legend who fell short of his pro dream

Michael Conlan began his professional boxing career with great fanfare and an ambition to become a multi-weight champion, but despite going close, he was unable to replicate his success as an amateur.

The 34-year-old called time on his career following Friday’s defeat to Kevin Walsh in Belfast when his last roll of the dice to get back into title contention unravelled.

A polarising figure, Conlan could sell out arenas and outdoor venues to the tune of 12,000, while eliciting the ire of others in his home town.

What could not be disputed was he talent inside the ring, with his silky switch-hitting skills bringing his from the streets of west Belfast to the top of the amateur game and within a whisker as a pro.

“I didn’t think I lost tonight but it was too close for my liking and no matter how I would lose, no matter if it’s a robbery, I said that would be my time,” Conlan told reporters in his dressing room after his defeat to Walsh.

“It’s all very raw at the minute and how I’m answering questions is all emotion.

“How light I feel at the minute is probably relief. I’ve had so much pressure on my, so many expectations, even my own.

“I’ve not achieved what I wanted to but I said when I came back into it [in 2025] it would be if I achieve it, then great but if I don’t then so be it. This is the so be it situation and now I can spend time with my family.”

Having followed his brothers into the boxing gym as a seven year old, Conlan would blossom into one of, if not the best Irish male amateurs.

Collecting Antrim, Ulster and Irish titles as a junior, his first major international senior competition came at 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, where, as a 17-year-old, he came unstuck against Australia’s Jason Moloney.

It was just the beginning as the following year, he won the first of five Irish Elite titles which earned him a place on the team for the World Championships in Baku, reaching the quarter-finals which earned a place at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

There, he made the big breakthrough, reaching the semi-finals where he lost to Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez but returned with a bronze medal to great acclaim.

A European silver would follow in 2013 and Commonwealth gold in 2014, but 2015 proved to be a year of unprecedented glory.

Following bantamweight gold at the European Championships in Bulgaria which saw him named fighter of the tournament in the process, there was better to come as he won gold at the World Championships in Doha, beating Murodjon Akhmadaliev in the final to become the first and only Irish male to win a world amateur title.

The Rio Games in 2016 was supposed to see him complete the amateur set with Olympic gold, but after two victories, he met Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin in the quarter-final. Despite the overwhelming majority of observers feeling it was an impressive win for the Belfast man, the ringside judges inexplicably didn’t, resulting in a furious response with Conlan flipping one finger at amateur boxing before stating: “I came for gold and I’ve been cheated. I’ll not do another Olympics. I would advise anybody not to compete for the AIBA (Amateur International Boxing Association).”

Ultimately, the McLaren report gave him vindication with that bout listed as one of 11 “deemed suspicious” before AIBA – rebranded at the IBA – was kicked out of the Olympics for good as Conlan then embarked upon scaling the mountain as a professional.

He made his debut on St Patrick’s Day, 17 March 2017, as the headline act at The Theatre in Madison Square Garden, New York with a third-round stoppage of Tim Ibarra.

The early throes of his career would see him fight on huge cards around the globe from Belfast to Brisbane.

He would gain his revenge over Nikitin in December 2019 back in New York before a win against former world super-bantamweight champion TJ Doheny at the Falls Park in Belfast opened the door to a shot at WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood.

On an electric night in Nottingham, Conlan looked set to rip the title away when flooring Wood at the end of the first round and looking to be one shot away from the finish in subsequent rounds.

However, the champion rallied and scored a knockdown of his own in the 11th and with momentum, knocked an exhausted Conlan out of the ring and fight in the final round to retain his title in the British Boxing Board of Control’s Fight of the Year for 2022.

After two comeback wins, Conlan earned a second world title opportunity, this time against IBF holder Luis Alberto Lopez, but at a sold-out SSE Arena in Belfast in March 2023, he was stopped in the fifth round.

Conlan lost in a 2022 WBA world featherweight title fight against Leigh Wood in 2022 [Getty Images]

Another return followed at the end of that year, but in a super-featherweight bout, he was stopped by Jordan Gill in the seventh.

His future in the sport looked uncertain, but after a 16-month hiatus, he returned in March 2025 with an eight-round points win against Asad Asif Khan in Brighton before building upon that against Jack Bateson in Dublin.

A third crack at a world title was beginning to come into view, but it was not to be as his split decision loss against Walsh finally shut the door on his hopes of claiming world titles as an amateur and a pro.

Although he came up short, his legacy is secure in Irish boxing circles as the man to break new ground as an amateur and twice fight for top honours as a pro.

“If I had have done it [retired] after the last defeat before this one [Jordan Gill], I’d maybe have been kicking myself for not giving it another go.

“I came back to try again and this is the third time coming back. God loves a trier and hopefully he loves me.”