Cuban Choice – Michael Conlan Confirms New Coach
Michael Conlan is going the Cuban route.
The Irish star has decided to train under Pedro Diaz moving forward.
The recent featherweight world title challenger visited Florida post splitting up with Adam Booth and tried out three coaches Buddy McGirt, Jorge Rubio and Diaz. earlier this month.
He gelled best Diaz and will work with the experienced Cuban coach as he resumes his world title hunt.
The Miami-based coach with an impressive amateur cv has coached star names like Miguel Cotto and Guillermo Rigondeaux in the pros, as well as mentoring Alexis Angulo, Ivan Baranchyk, Xu Can and Filip Hrgovic among others.
Confirming the new to the Irish News, Jamie Conlan said: “We went to a few gyms and met a few coaches but Pedro stood out – he ticked all the boxes,”
“He is very technical and he impressed us at different levels: His knowledge, his experience… They gelled well, they worked really well so it’s a very, very exciting collaboration.
“Pedro has rebuilt fighters – he did it with Cotto to beat (Antonio) Margarito in the rematch and to fight Mayweather but we went with him because him and Michael are on the same wavelength, they think the same about how to approach a fight.
“He was very impressive and I think it’s a breath of fresh air. I think he can help Michael improve and learn and hopefully get over that last hurdle. He identified strengths and weaknesses in Michael – he saw things in Michael that he thinks will be able to make him a world champion.”
