Michael Conlan returned to action on Saturday night with a future rematch with Leigh Wood still on his plans.
In front of the home team’s passionate support, the Northern Ireland featherweight will take on three-time world title challenger Miguel Marriaga at Belfast’s SSE Arena.
The Colombian has been with the likes of Nicholas Walters, Oscar Valdez and Vasiliy Lomachenko, so that represents a solid test for Conlan’s first game since losing to Wood.
Harry Judd of Boxing Social asked Conlan if he is expecting a test from the 35-year-old on Saturday.
“100%. The only people he lost were the tough challengers and the world champions. “
“The only one who stopped him was Lomachenko. He’s up against opponents of very, very high caliber. I didn’t expect to take him out. I expect to use my boxing skills and get the win.”
An impressive win for Conlan will re-establish the 30-year-old on the world stage at 126lbs and restart his title ambitions.
In March, Conlan and Wood created a fight for the ages in Nottingham when the latter defended his WBA ‘Normal’ title.
After bouncing back from a knockdown in the penultimate bracket, Conlan found himself out of the ring and out with 90 seconds remaining in 12 seconds of suspense.order ring.
Before that, the champ was on deck in the first session and at the end Conlan’s eye-catching kit looked as though it was driving him to victory. What happened with the passing of 90 seconds proved that anything can happen in boxing.
Conlan talks about his first professional loss and his hopes of getting Wood in the ring again.
“I got over the loss, I know where I went wrong. It’s more of a learning curve than anything. “
“I am really happy with how things have progressed since then. I know the silly mistakes I’ve made. I went back and tried to fix them and fix everything. I think I consider it more of a learning than a loss. “
Rematch
“I was knocked down in the last minute and a half. One punch can change the course of a fight and that’s what happened. All credit to Leigh Wood, he dug deep, and he got it done. Fair play.”
“We’ll have a rematch eventually and eventually I’ll get the win but until then I just have to focus on who’s in front of me and keep moving forward.”
While Conlan has a fight day to look forward to, Wood is still waiting for his next defense.
The Nottingham boxer is involved in facing former conqueror Josh Warrington, Mauricio Lara as well as a potentially career-defining matchup against WBA ‘Super’ champion Leo Santa Cruz.
At the time of writing, the regulator has given the wallet bidding deadline of August 12.
Boxing Social asked Conlan who he thought would win if the battle between Santa Cruz and Wood took place.
“I think Leo won.”
“My views on Leigh Wood have not changed. I said before the fight he’s tough, he’s resilient and he punches really hard.”
“I don’t think he punches as hard as he’s made for. During our fight, I think it was fatigue that drove me more than anything. I took bigger pictures during the fight, and I still stand. I’ve never been hurt.”
“With Santa Cruz, is he too old? Will Leigh catch him? I would lean towards Santa Cruz. Do I think the war happens? I really don’t. “
