Conlan and Barnes register impressive WSB wins- Barnes one win away from RIO
London 2012 Olympians Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlan cruised to emphatic wins for Italia Thunder versus the Argentina Condors in the World Series of Boxing (WSB) in Milan tonight.
The Irish duo, who between them have three Olympic medals, beat Leandro Zarate Junior and Ignacio Perrin on unanimous decisions – 50-45 across the board for both Belfast men – at the Alcatraz venue.
Tonight’s victories move Barnes into first position in the light-fly table and Conlan into number two position in the bantamweight table.
The top ranked light-fly and the top two ranked bantamweights at the end of the regular WSB season next month will qualify for the Rio 2016 Games.
Both Irish fighters have one bout each left away to Venezuela on April 18th. If Barnes, who was the first Irish boxer to qualify for the Beijing 2008 Olympics from the 2007 World Elite Championships in Chicago, wins that fight he will qualify for his third successive Olympics.
Barnes, boxing well within himself, was rarely troubled en route to his sixth straight win for Thunder tonight, while Conlan produced an exhibition of close and long range boxing.
Italia Thunder won tonight’s five-bout match. Billy Walsh and John Conlan, father to Michael, were working the Irish duo’s corners in Milan.
