Michael Conlan takes old school approach into comeback
Michael Conlan is making sure the only opinions that matter are the opinions of people that matter to him as he rolls the dice one last time.
The Olympic medal confirmed he wasn’t ‘done’ when speaking to Irish-boxing.com in April, putting to bed any retirement rumours as he confirmed he would have one last run at a world title.
If certain sections of social media are to be believed it’s a bad move. After three stoppage defeats there are those online who suggest the Belfast star’s time is up and continuing is futile.
It’s the kind of noise that creates doubt, although while it’s noise Conlan has heard it’s noise he is ignoring.
The 32-year-old prefers to listen to the boxing-steeped people around him and is using history rather than social media chatter as a gauge heading into another world title assault.
“If you look at the old timers, the likes of Roberto Duran, they lose, they come back, they lose, they lose, they come back. It’s the world we live in, people want everything right now and if you’re not doing it right now, you’re done, you’re s***, you’re finished,” he said speaking to The Mirror.
“If you can understand that and are not reading into what people are saying on social media, it’s quite easy if you know what you want to do,” he adds before indicating the social media reaction to his recent performances has been overly dramatic.
“I’m 32, alright I’ve had three losses. One was a KO and the others were TKOs/ stoppages so it’s not like I’ve been f***ing knocked out cold.
“People go ‘devastating knockout’, okay I get the Wood fight and that was down to fatigue more than anything.
“Let’s be honest, the other two I’ve been on my feet, the fights have been stopped while I’ve still been standing. The world we live in now with social media, people are quick to throw s*** and quick to say you’re done.”
After confirming he was going to fight on, Conlan has now indicated the path he plans to take. The Conlan Boxing manager and promoter will look to ease his way back in and will then look to test things and fringe world-level before making a world title play.
“Because I’ve lost two on the trot, I deserve a type of comeback fight,” he says. “Have that and then jump straight back into the mix with some of the boys who are on the verge (of world title fights), get in with them, get the job done there and then get a world title shot.
“That’s how I see it. If it plays out a different way, it plays out a different way, but that’s how I’d like it to go. Have a comeback fight, jump in right away after that with whoever, it doesn’t matter, and roll the dice.”
Although he hasn’t once served up an excuse, Conlan is aware of factors he believes contributed to his defeats, and as such
“I know I still have the ability to prove what I want to do. I know that there’s so many intangibles that have played a part in the last two fights probably which were out of my control.
“So let’s go back to it, let’s set the record straight, do it right, make sure everything is done the correct way and we’ll see how it goes. And if it doesn’t go the way I want it to go then that will be it. I’m giving it one more roll of the dice and I believe I can still achieve what I have always set out to achieve and that is what I want to do.”
