Michael Conlan rises from Rio Games debacle to dream professional debut on St Patrick's Day in New York

• Published in: Telegraph.co.uk
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Telegraph Media Group Limited 15.03.2017
• Subjects: Boxing; Careers; Olympic games; Ireland

Fighter Michael Conlan is remembered for one thing: the double middle-finger salute to the judges at the Olympic Games in Rio last summer. A prized Olympic gold medal was on the cards. Parades, and passion, and in the midst of the celebrations Conlan will make his debut at Madison Square Garden. Middleweight star Gennady Golovkin collides with Daniel Jacobs at The Garden 24 hours later, with brilliant unbeaten 46-0 four-weight world champion Roman 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez the supporting act. Michael Conlan in trainingCredit: GETTY IMAGES Matthew Macklin, the formidable former middleweight boxer and now Conlan's manager, explained: "You've got an amateur here who boxed in two Olympic games, a World Championships, Commonwealth Games gold medallist, God knows how many international fights he had all over the world against top-class fighters. Macklin added: "It is a fairy tale debut, it is what dreams are made of, but after Saturday night Mick will have announced himself as a future superstar, not just a future world champion. Michael Conlan and Tim Ibarra (right)Credit: AP Conan faces Tim Ibarra, a 26-year-old Coloradan, with four victories, two by knockout, and four losses in his first professional touch. Conlan, indeed, follows in the wake of fellow Belfast fighter Carl Frampton seeing his stock rise across the pond. "Me and Matthew and the team would within two or three years like to "I'll probably be a bit more aggressive, sitting down on my punches a lot more, and the amateur pace is like a sprint pace whereas the...