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Just Like Old Times – Paddy Barnes re-living amateur glory days with Mick Conlan in NY


It will be a bit like the olden days for Paddy Barnes this weekend.

Granted he won’t be sharing a room with Mick Conlan and he won’t be boiling his body down, but the Cliftonville flyweight promises that he hasn’t changed since his amateur days.

Barnes boxes on Sunday night on the undercard of Conlan’s big card in New York at The Theater at Madison Square Garden and he will not let his fellow Belfast fighter’s increasing stardom go to his head.

The pair were both due to fight on the Josh Warrington v Carl Frampton undercard in Manchester in December only for ‘The Leprechaun’s’ fight to fall off at extreme late notice.

However, with this card being in New York, there is a definite away day feel and Barnes is reminded of their amateur days when they travelled all over the world.

However, they have swapped grey post-Soviet cities for one which never sleeps and, if Barnes has his way, either will Conlan.

The double Olympic bronze medallist stated how “I can guarantee Mick is not looking forward to hanging around with me in fight week because I either ignore him or I’m cheeky to him!”

“Everyone knows I hate making weight. He’s lucky I’m not making flyweight because if I was, he’d want to be in a different hotel from me altogether!”

“This is going to be my fourth time in New York. I’ve been to two Paddy’s Day fights headlined by Mick and then I also saw him on Vasyl Lomachenko’s undercard.”

While Conlan’s day-to-day life is now a bit different to what it was during the High Performance days, Barnes is holed up in Glasgow house-sharing with Sam Maxell, Sean McComb, Tyrone McKenna, and noted prankster Tyrone McCullagh.

“I’ve had a hard camp,” he admits. “It’s hard work being in camp with the Tyrones.

“Their TV is just about by my headboard in the next room so I feel like I’m listening to it in surround sound. They blast it until the early hours of the morning the eejits!”

dpg

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Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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