Mick Conlan Homecoming Confirmed

Mick Conlan’s big Belfast homecoming has finally been officially confirmed.

It has been known since earlier this month that Conlan [6(5)-0] would fight for the first time as a professional at the SSE Odyssey Arena on Saturday June 30th and this afternoon, ahead of Carl Frampton v Nonito Donaire at the same venue tonight, the bill has been formally announced.

The Queensberry-Top Rank co-promotion will be shown live on ESPN in the United States and on BT Sport on this side of the Atlantic.

The card is dependent on 26-year-old Conlan coming through his fight on the Linares-Lomachenko undercard in New York on May 12th – which he is wholly expected to.

Here Conlan faces Spaniard Ibon Larrinaga [10(2)-1(1)] but a homecoming opponent is yet to be confirmed.

The Falls Road man’s former amateur team-mate Tyrone McCullagh, who also boxes tonight in a tune-up, is the only Irish fighter currently confirmed for the June 30th undercard where he will face Glaswegian Joe Ham in a vacant BBBoC Celtic super bantamweight title fight. Others, such as friends Paddy Barnes and Tommy McCarthy, and older brother Jamie, are expected to be announced in due course.

The news comes close after the42.ie’s reveal that Top Rank have signed Conlan’s Olympic rival Vladimir Nikitin for the purposes of a chance at revenge for the Irishman who lost a controversial decision to the Russian at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

‘Toxic’ Nikitin won’t be the man in the opposite corner on June 30th – however a fight between the pair next year is Top Rank boss Bob Arum’s plan.

Following, by then, two eight rounders, the Adam Booth-trained Conlan looks set to fight for his maiden title in this homecoming, stepping up to ten rounds for the first time, most likely for a rankings belt from one of the four major governing bodies.