Mick Conlan to face British fighter for first title on Warrington-Frampton Undercard
Mick Conlan [9(6)-0] will round off his 2018 with a fifth fight of the year and will do so against a domestic name.
The Belfast featherweight will feature on the Josh Warrington v Carl Frampton undercard at the Manchester Arena on December 22nd and he has revealed that he will face a British foe on the BT Sport Box Office card.
Conlan, who turns 27 this month, will be stepping up to ten rounds on the bill following four eight-rounders and is set to fight for his first title – presumably a rankings belt from one of the four major organisations.
The Falls fighter told IFL TV that “I’ll finish this year with a win in December, 10-0.”
“The opponent will be announced this week, I know who I’m fighting but I can’t say nothing.”
“It should be a good one, I look forward to it, it’s a British opponent too so someone who might want to go forward. He’ll definitely be coming to win, he’ll have a lot of confidence.”
In terms of who the opponent is there are a number of possibilities for Conlan.
Scottish featherweight champ Lewis Paulin [12(3)-0] is one name that jumps from the rankings as is English champ Samir Mouneimne [18(5)-2(1)-1] and the Frank Warren-promoted Raza Hamza [11(6)-0-1]. Also possibilities are the likes of former Commonwealth champ Jason Cunningham [24(6)-5(1)] and Thomas Patrick Ward [25(4)-0]
Promotional situations, schedules, and recent defeats would rule out the likes of Jordan Gill, Isaac Lowe, Reece Bellotti, Ryan Doyle, or the McDonnell twins.
The Top Rank prospect has been kept busy since turning pro last March. Last time out the Olympic bronze medallist stopped Italian Nicola Cipolletta in the seventh round of their fight in Las Vegas in what has been regarded as the best performance of his pro career thus far.
Conlan is joined on the card next month by Newtownabbey light heavy Steven Ward and Cliftonville fly Paddy Barnes while there are also slots for British fighters Martin Murray, Mark Heffron, Nicola Adams, Nathan Gorman, Tommy Fury, and a clash between JJ Metcalf and Liam Williams.
Watch Mick Conlan’s interview with IFL TV in full below:
Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fighting Irish (@ThefIrish)
