Michael Conlan picked up a second straight defeat at the hands of Englishman Jordan Gill tonight at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Conlan was previously defeated by Luis Alberto Lopez when challenging for a world title this past May, the Irishman was brutally knocked out in the fifth round in front of a Belfast crowd in his second world title challenge.
Tonight he returned back to his city with new promoter Eddie Hearn and Matchroom, with the vision of getting a big money fight with one of the many feather or super featherweight fighters in Hearn’s stable. Conlan had also acquired a new trainer in Cuban Pedro Diaz having previously worked with Adam Booth.
Conlan looked in trouble as early as the first round when Gill ripped a body shot that shook the Irishman to his legs. It was relatively even in the first round with Gill tucked up and coming forward, as Conlan opted to box and move. However, every time the pair looked close to trading, the educated hometown crowd were holding their breath.
Conlan was on the canvas in the second round after Gill landed a stiff left hand upstairs. He fell flat on his back but did manage to make it to his feet, even though his legs were unsteady. Conlan was in trouble again at the end of the round as Gill rocked him on the bell with a right hand to the head.
Round three saw Conlan stay primarily on the back foot and using his jab to deter the forward marching Gill. Every time Gill landed something of note, you could see Conlan was hurt, so could his fans. He had to survive rounds three and four, he did, but only just.
The Irishman worked his way back into the fight during rounds four and five. He was switching to southpaw and was landing good uppercuts when trading on the inside. Gill appeared to be slowing down.
Round six saw Gill take back control with his powerful body shots. The end was near as Conlan would continually be stunned from everyone of Gill's punches. Conlan was stopped at 1:09 in round seven after taking a gluttony of shots while pinned to the ropes. Referee Howard Foster stepped in with Conlan not responding to Gill’s attack.
Gill makes a sensational return to action after over a year out of the ring. He lost to Kiko Martinez last year by fourth round stoppage. Gill’s record improves to 28-2-1 (9 KOs) with Conlan’s moving to 18-3 (9 KOs).
