IRELAND’s Michael Conlan started the year at the end of one of the most dramatic knockouts ever seen in the British ring in a while and will now end the year with perhaps is the only man who can say he finished the knockout round against that opponent in 2022.
On Saturday (December 10) in Belfast, nine months after losing his undefeated record to Leigh Wood, Conlan will face former European bantamweight and featherweight champion Karim Guerfi in his third bout. in Conlan’s year. This is his second game since a loss to Wood, who impressed by beating Miguel Marriaga in August, and a win, if he gets it, would fully prepare the former star. amateurs to climb back into the world rankings in 2023.
In fact, for both Conlan and Guerfi, the name of the game is still reconstructed. After all, not only did the two not have a rough start to the year, but they also suffered setbacks that took some time to recover from. Conlan, as mentioned, was knocked out of the ring in the final round of the “Match of the Year” competition against Wood in Nottingham, while Guerfi, a veteran no stranger to adversity, was beaten by Jordan. Gill knocks down amazingly. right hand in the ninth inning of a match he believes he won in February.
That failure, a hard one to accept, will finish off those who are worse off. But Guerfi, a professional player since 2006, has had significant setbacks and as a result has developed an uncanny ability to knock himself out and bounce back stronger. Indeed, in 38 professional matches, Guerfi was beaten no less than six times, four times in stoppage time, but always reacted positively when back on the horse.
In 2021, for example, he started the year when he was stopped by Scotland’s Lee McGregor in a round at Bolton, only to later claim the European featherweight title in August with a nasty decisive victory over Andoni Gago in Spain. He did a similar trick in 2013, when a decisive loss to Omar Lamiri, followed by a decisive win in Belgium against Stephane Jamoye, the host, to claim the European bantamweight title.
Essentially, what you have with Guerfi is a man who doesn’t react the way most boxers react in the face of life after a loss. Too seasoned, too understanding low after high and vice versa, Guerfi is instead a shrewd old campaigner who, now, in 2022, is showing signs of preparing a again to create something special out of the rubble of a crushing defeat.
Since his loss to Gill in February, the Frenchman has played once and passed that test – a decisive 10th round win over Mexican Ricardo Mercado – with flying colors, little sign of hangover or weakness. It was, in fact, a fight he had to win, which made it different from previous victories over Gago and Jamoye but, even so, getting back into action with a decisive victory was a positive sign going into this next fight, his 39th, against Conlan in Belfast.
Because of this, rest assured, is Guerfi’s great test; his chance to once again escape the sadness on foreign land. After all, in Conlan he met a man of good amateur descent, who was by far a pro, only misplacing one foot in the 12th inning of a match that many believed him to be. on the way to win. Therefore, if Guerfi manages to create an upset in this matchup, he will claim well and indeed his reputation as one of the sport’s great party players. this sport.
Of course, it’s up to Conlan to deny this gatebreaker’s entry and gain control of him before Guerfi has a chance to cause any chaos. It is doubtful that he will do this by combining boxing spells with combat, as he usually does very well, and should use his variety and better motives to ultimately hit the ball. defeated Guerfi for most of the battle. At this point, the big question is whether Conlan will find a way to hit the gas and force a stop, or will he be content, knowing that sometimes mistakes can go wrong, to work it out to ensure a card victory. Either way, it’s hard to see anything other than Conlan ending a year full of excitement and Guerfi, who never gives up, receiving a less dramatic defeat than the last but no less. comprehensive part.
Supporting Conlan versus Guerfi in a big Belfast bill was an England heavyweight 10 inning Liam Taylor25-2-1 (12) and favorite house Tyrone McKenna23-3-1(6).
This will be McKenna’s third game of the year, following a loss to world-class Regis Prograis in March and a decisive win over Chris Jenkins this past August, while for Taylor it will be second match in 2022, his first. only arrived in October (when stopping Martin Harkin for four laps).
Both, for many of the same reasons, needed a big win to start momentum, and in recent times both have fallen short of taking the next level: McKenna vs. Prograis and Taylor vs. David Avanesyan last year.
In theory, it has all the elements that make for an entertaining fight and is also likely a close match. That is why, with the backing of the home team, Southpaw McKenna is the choice to raise his hand over the line.
Also on Limerick’s Belfast card Graham McCormack8-1 (1), against Belleek’s Fearghus Quinn4-0 (1), in an eighth round in middleweight, while welterweight Lewis Crocker14-0 (8) and light-heavyweight Padraig McCrory15-0 (9), will also take place in matches scheduled for eight innings.
