ROUNDING OFF A nightmare May for Irish boxing, Michael Conlan (18-2, 9 KOs) has been defeated in his second shot at a world title.
The Belfast featherweight was knocked out in the fifth round in his home city by defending IBF champion Luis Alberto Lopez (28-2, 16 KOs).
The Mexican was too strong and did not allow Conlan a moment of respite, hurting the Falls Road man in the third before closing the show at the SSE Arena two rounds later with a sensational uppercut.
A painful night for Conlan and the sport on this island, he could not deal with the sheer physicality and power of the defending champion who tore up the script.
While it was a 50-50 fight with the bookmakers beforehand, the general industry consensus was that, if he could negotiate the early rounds and establish a rhythm, Conlan would have too much class for the champion.
Indeed, there was something of a carnival atmosphere in the Titanic City in contrast to the anxious feeling that surrounded the Katie Taylor v Chantelle Cameron fight last weekend.
Conlan, 31, fought fire with fire and the grizzled Lopez, 29, was the man left standing, sending the World gold and Olympic bronze medallist down and out after five violent rounds.
The Ulsterman had been on the cusp of world title honours 14 months ago in Nottingham only to be short-circuited in the final round by Leigh Wood. A swift but impressive rebuild from this WBA title fight saw Conlan outpoint tough Colombian Miguel Marriaga and blast away Frenchman Karim Guerfi to put him in the frame for a second shot.
A constantly changing landscape at featherweight, the same December night Conlan stopped Guerfi in a round also saw Lopez cause a mild upset by dethroning Josh Warrington in Leeds to claim the IBF crown. With both being promoted by US behemoth Top Rank, an in-house title clash was quickly arranged and, despite being challenger, Conlan’s profile – and ability to sell 10,000 tickets – saw the fight fixed for Belfast and the former Odyssey Arena.
Contrasting to Conlan and his impeccable amateur credentials, Mexicali’s Lopez had fought his way up to the world stage from humble beginnings on the Mexican small hall scene. Forcing his way to a Top Rank deal with upsets over Andy Vences and Gabe Flores Jr, ‘El Venado’ came into tonight off the back of a ten-fight win streak which culminated in the aforementioned title triumph over Warrington. A fast start from the awkward and aggressive Latino that night saw him take control of the bout and, despite slowing in the second half, he had enough banked to claim a majority-decision win over the more established beltholder.
Alas, Lopez’s potential frailties down the stretch would not be a factor here in a fight which, even after one round, did not look like going the distance.
Having entered with his customary ‘Grace’ ringwalk, Conlan had brought the atmosphere to a fever pitch and started surprisingly fast, exchanging shots with Lopez rather than going on the back foot. Both targeted the body early and Conlan slung in a pair of heavy southpaw left hands upstairs but every shot the champion threw appeared to have significant weight behind it.
Lopez, always dangerous with the uppercut, scored well with a leaping hook in the second that sent Conlan into the ropes but the challenger responded well, stopping the Mexican in his tracks with a hard counter shot. Refusing to make it a boxer v puncher affair and maybe looking to show Lopez his own physical strength, Conlan dug in well in the closing exchanges, perhaps getting the better of things but it was a dangerous game he was playing.
A concerted tactic from Conlan, he continued to stab to the body of Lopez in the third but he was forced to come through a period of peril as uppercuts from the champion put him on severely wobbly legs. Retreating to the ropes with a fuzzy head, Conlan bobbed, weaved, held, and managed to see out the round but there were major warning signs.
Fighting hard just to keep his head above water, Conlan withstood an early fourth-round charge from Lopez and began to land some long left hands of his own but a late left hook from the visitor was the punch of the stanza.
Conlan, with his notable height and reach advantage, attempted to stay on the outside in the fifth but, once Lopez closed the distance, it was over. A short right uppercut sent the home favourite down in stages and the towel came in from Adam Booth immediately.
Immediately tended to in the ring with oxygen, Conlan was back on his feet quickly and congratulated his conqueror. Visibly upset following the announcement of the result, he made a swift exit to the bowels of the arena and whether Conlan will look to rebuild and target a third shot at world honours remains to be seen.
Andersonstown’s Anto Cacace (20-1, 7 KOs), fighting in front of a home crowd for the first time in eight years, won in the chief Irish support bout. The mercurial super featherweight unanimously outpointed Poland’s Damian Wrzesinski (26-2-2, 7 KOs) to retain his lightly-regarded IBO World title. Classy sharp right hands proved the difference as Cacace continually caught his forward-marching opponent throughout the 12 rounds.
Pierce O’Leary (12-0, 7 KOs) showed just why he is one of the hottest prospects in Irish boxing with a first round stoppage. ‘Big Bang’ blasted out Valencia-based Romanian Alin Florin Ciorceri (17-4, 7 KOs) in double-quick time, knocking the visitor down inside the opening minute with a left hook and the bout was waved off soon after. The 23-year-old Dublin light welterweight, highly-rated by boxing insiders, retained his WBC International rankings belt and should see his #26 rating with the body rise as he builds under the radar.
Belfast super flyweight prospect Conor Quinn (6-0-1, 4 KOs) was given a tough eight rounds by former EU champion Juan Hinostroza(11-11-2, 5 KOs) but came through on the scorecards to underline his credentials. Then there were also early undercard wins for Tokyo Olympian Kurt Walker (7-0, 1 KO) who cruised past Venezuelan featherweight Maicol Velazco (10-7, 3 KOs) and Conor McGregor-backed Dublin lightweight Willo Hayden (6-0, 1 KO) who outpointed Sunderland’s Jordan Ellison (14-48-3, 1 KO).
Also winners on the night were Liverpudlians Nick Ball (18-0, 11 KOs) and Callum Thompson (7-0, 1 KO) who defeated Ludumo Lamati (21-1-1, 11 KOs) and Marian Marius Istrate (3-17) respectively.
At the time of writing, Belfast super-middleweight Padraig McCrory, Belleek middle Fearghus Quinn, and welterweight debutant Jamesy Freeman from Armagh were yet to take to the ring for their respective fights with Diego Ramirez, Ruben Angulo, and Jordan Grannum.
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