It was a short night’s work for the former Irish Olympian Michael Conlan (18-1) in the city of Belfast. This was Conlan’s second fight back since his first professional defeat at the hands of Leigh Wood.
Conlan was in fine form stopping Frenchman Karim Guerfi inside the first round. Referee Steve Gray stopped the bout at 2:34 towards the end of the opening round as Guerfi stumbled towards the corner after a knockdown. Conlan was certainly not looking to get any rounds in the bank, the Irishman hit Guerfi with a left to the body. Guerfi was clearly hurt as he fell back into the ropes, Conlan pounced with a barrage of punches which led to the knockdown.
The rebuild is in full swing since Conlan’s devastating defeat to Leigh Wood for the WBA World Featherweight title, in which Conlan suffered a knockout loss in the twelfth round in a Fight of the Year contender.
“I felt good mate, I felt strong!” Conlan told Boxing-Social after his victory.
“I feel I’m developing better power punching. I didn’t think it would happen that quick, but I knew it would happen. Once it happened, I thought Merry fucking Christmas.”
The aim stays the same for Micheal Conlan as he searches for a second chance at winning a World title. Conlan is eager to return on or around St Patrick's day next March, with fellow Top Rank fighters; Joet Gonzalez, Emanuel Navarrete and Robeisy Ramirez as possible options.
Notable undercard results:
Belfast-born Sean McComb defeated Slovakian Zsolt Osadan (23-1-1) over ten rounds by unanimous decision to claim the vacant WBO European Super Lightweight title. McComb moves to 14-1 after this victory handing Osadan his first career defeat, who now moves to a record of 23-1-1. All three judges were in agreement, all scoring the fight 100-90.
