Clash of the Irish! Conlan vs Doheny Preview

Michael Conlan meets TJ Doheny on Friday the 6th of August at Falls Park in Belfast, Ireland. The latter is a former world champion whereas Conlan will be defending his unbeaten record. This is a fight between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and has the makings of being a fantastic contest.

This is an important fight for both men, but Conlan sees it as a stepping stone to a world title shot. The Northern Irishman was number one in the AIBA bantamweight world rankings as an amateur and won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics. Conlan also claimed gold at the 2015 World Championships and turned professional a year later.

Conlan defeated Tim Ibarra by a third-round technical knockout at Madison Square Garden in his first professional fight. Having moved up to the super-bantam weight level in April 2021, Conlan beat Romanian Ionut Baluta by a majority decision and that is his most recent fight. So, having had 15 fights in his professional career, Conlan has a 100% success rate, with 8 wins coming by way of knockout. 

However, his rise to the top has not been without controversy. Conlan was found guilty of betting on boxing events at the 2016 Olympic Games and was sanctioned by the Disciplinary Commission of the IOC.  Fortunately, the majority of people do not have to worry about that and if you fancy having a flutter on this fight, head over to Bettinguide.com where you can find a great selection of free bet sign up offers to back your favourite fighters. Some of the offers are specifically for Ireland, which makes them great for those who are going to be watching the fight.

As highlighted above, TJ Doheny is a former world champion having held the IBF super-bantamweight title in 2018 and 2019. Having turned professional in 2012, Doheny embarked on a great run of fights and won each of his 19 bouts. He stopped his opponent early in 14 of those 19 fights, which is a good record and defeated Ryosuke Iwasa of Japan to win the IBF super bantamweight championship.

However, Doheny’s most recent record does not match that of his opponent. Conlan defeated Baluta by a majority decision in April of this year, but Doheny suffered the second defeat of his professional career against the Romanian. Doheny lost by unanimous decision at Caesars Palace, Dubai in March 2020 and that is his most recent fight on record. It was the second defeat in three fights for Doheny, who lost against Daniel Roman in April 2019.

Interestingly, this will be the first fight in Ireland for Doheny, but it is going to be a tough night for the man from Portlaoise. Conlan is already eyeing up the winner of the Stephen Fulton vs Brandon Figueroa, should he come out on top in this contest. 

The bookmakers know who they fancy to win and Conlan is the clear favourite to succeed. Stranger things have happened in boxing, but Conlan will be confident he can get the job done and move on to a world title fight.