Weight mystery for Jamie Conlan – move to bantamweight possible
Jamie Conlan [19(11)-0] admits a move up in weight may be in order to put a stop to his frequent visits to the canvas.
‘The Mexican’ defeated Yader Cardoza on Friday night in Belfast, hitting the floor in the eighth round at the Waterfront Hall but edging out a split decision.
It was a fifth trip to the canvas in Conlan’s last six fights, having been down twice against each of Junior Granados and Anthony Nelson.
The regularity of his dramatic battles, while entertaining and endearing to fans, are worrying for the Commonwealth super flyweight champion who is seeing a vast difference between his performances in training and his efforts on fight night.
Conlan is at something of a loss in terms of why he keeps ending up on the deck. The 30 year old is a consummate professional who makes the 115lbs weight limit scientifically and consistently, boiling down isn’t too much of an issue for him. However, he mused that a move three pounds north to bantamweight may be in order, pending some investigation over the coming months.
“Maybe super flyweight is a step to far and that’s why I’m getting caught with these shots. But they’re not hurting me, not one bit. He hit me, it was flash, and I was down, but the shot did not hurt one bit.”
“It’s possible [a move to bantamweight], but I do make it [super flyweight], and this time I made it so easy. For some reason, these shots don’t hurt me at all in sparring, and didn’t hurt me on the night, but there I am on the ground.”
“It’s something that I’ll have to sit down with Danny [Vaughan, trainer] about.”
Looking back at the fight in which he claimed the WBC International Silver belt, Conlan described how it was
“good at times, silly at times, and below par. I’m not happy with myself, I thought I could have won it a lot more decisively. The lads are pushing me in directions here I should be a lot better if I’m honest.”
“You have to be honest with yourself in this game, I should be doing people like that a lot easier – and I was, I just got caught with silly shots.”
Recalling the knockdown, which looked innocuous at first, the Falls Road Fighter explained that “he caught me high on the top of the head, it was a weird shot, it didn’t really hurt too much, it just knocked my equilibrium off. I just felt it going down through my left leg.”
“I knew then he was going to have a big onslaught. Just like Granados before him, I knew I was going to have to make a statement or he would push it on me. So, when I came out the round after, I knew I had to be the boss in that round and when I did I knew I slightly broke his heart.”
Photo Credit: BoxingScene
Jamie Conlan joins Gavan Casey and Joe O’Neill for Episode 3 of The Irish Boxing Show:
