Mick Conlan staying slim ahead of Argentine test in New York

Mick Conlan [4(4)-0] is home in Ireland and staying sharp ahead of his New York return.

The Belfast featherweight is back at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on Saturday December 9th for fight number five.

The venue where Conlan made his unprecedented St Patrick’s Day debut, this time round he features on the undercard of the phenomenal match-up between Vasyl Lomachenko and Guillermo Rigondeaux.

It was announced during the week that the Falls Road man will face Argentine Luis Fernando Molina [7(2)-3(0)-1] over six rounds.

The South American looks to be a rugged foe, and Conlan told Irish-Boxing.com that “this guy who I’m in with, he’s never been stopped, he’s a tough f*cker, it’s looks like a step up.”

However, as Conlan learnt last month against Kenny Guzman, the opponent’s ambition is crucial at this stage in a prospect’s career,

The Olympic bronze medalist noted how “the last guy was meant to be a step up, and on paper he was – he came to win and that was the difference. People coming onto my shots is the difference.”

“The way I was working the body was good, although I was still getting caught by the odd stupid shot myself, I wasn’t worried about his power at all.”

The Belfast featherweight is back home in Ireland for his brother Brendan’s wedding, but he is continuing to tick over ahead of the December fight date.

Conlan was also back in the country for weddings during the Summer too, but found he overindulged – a mistake he doesn’t want to make again.

“That’s the main thing for me,” said the 25 year old. “After my last fight, in Brisbane, I put on a lot of weight, I went up to 154lbs. I don’t even know how it happened, it just happened so quickly. ”

“It was crazy, very hard, and it just made the camp an awful lot harder. It made me feel like I didn’t have a good training camp, I didn’t feel as fit as I usually am and I’m putting it down to the weight, I was more focused on weight because I was really heavy.”

“The decision to go up to featherweight was made before that anyway, it was made straight after the Australian fight was finished. There’s no point in struggling to make weight this early on in my career. I think it was a smart decision me moving up.”

The card in December will be the first which Conlan will share with Top Rank stablemate Shakur Stevenson.

Promoter Bob Arum is keen to build a fight between the pair, describing it as a modern day Sugar Ray Leonard v Tommy Hearns.

Conlan however is not paying any notice to who he shares the card with and noted how “it does not phase me at all, he’s on his path, I’m on my path.”

“We’re two different fighters and for the time being I’m just focused on myself, I don’t need to worry about him.”

Photo Credit: Mikey Williams