‘Absolute Scumbags’ – Michael Conlan says Wood fans spat at him after dramatic KO

Michael Conlan [16(8)-1(1)] says Leigh Wood [26(16)-2(1)]fans were spitting at him and celebrating his potential death as he was stretchered out of the Motor Point Arena in Nottingham in March.

Wood had just put the lights out on the coronation of Conlan as Ireland’s newest World champion in dramatic fashion in his hometown.

The WBA ‘regular’ Champion knocked the Belfast fighter out of his senses, out of the ring, out of the fight and out of what at one point looked like a strut toward a World title victory.

Such were the aesthetics of the knockout that there was genuine concern, even panic among the boxing community and the majority of those packed into the arena.

The fighter has since revealed he was fine and has hit out at how things were handled, suggesting a lot of the pain and worry could have be avoided.

However, the worst was being feared as the stretcher came to escort Conlan out of the ring and a horrible period of rumour-fuelled concern followed.

Matchroom’s Frank Smith did relay the switch hitter was conscious and stable en route to hospital – but it was a long time before all panic was eased when Conlan assured the only thing seriously hurt was his pride.

Speaking to Irish-boxing.com he revealed there were some who were not worried during that period, pointing out some of Wood’s following were guilty of terrible behaviour as he was carried out of the ring.

Conlan said a number fans spat at him while others jeered suggesting he’d been killed by their man whilst filming his exit.

“The Irish fans were worried, Leigh Woods fans weren’t they were spitting on me when I was leaving the arena, absolute scum bags. That’s boxing I suppose,” he said.

Conlan always knew to expect hostility, in fact, he enjoyed fueling it throughout fight week and enjoyed the massive event feel to the night. However, he wasn’t happy some followers of Wood, who was gracious in victory and showed Conlan concern, took it to an unacceptable level.

“I thought the whole event was fantastic, the atmosphere was fantastic, I don’t remember [Wood fans] going crazy because I got knocked out, so it’s ok they can go crazy if they want!

“I thought the Irish outdone them 100 percent. I know they were spitting on me and stuff but they are probably still actually fans [of mine]. They were trying to video me, shouting ‘Leigh Wood killed him’ and stuff like that, It’s horrendous, if something had happened you and people are doing that there,” he continues before brushing it off and puffing his chest out to a degree.

“It’s boxing and it comes with the territory. I love the atmosphere and I enjoyed going into someone’s back garden for the first time, that experience was fantastic. I lived up to it and I enjoyed it.”

It wasn’t just a minority of Wood fans Conlan was upset with, he felt the handling of his knockout was a ‘shambles’ and caused unnecessary concern.

“I was awake, obviously when you’re knocked out you don’t remember what happened in the immediate aftermath but I was awake very quickly. When I look back on it now I think they made a shambles of the whole thing. The medical staff didn’t know what they were doing, they were trying to put a mask on my face with my gum shiled still in and I was trying to get the mask off.

“The TV and the media didn’t know what was going on, so there was so much more hysteria around the whole thing than needed to be. People were really worried and it was nice people were concerned but I was thinking ‘there is f**k all wrong with me’. If it was in the ring I would have got up, sat on my stool, or continued on fighting however it was. It was just the position I was in that made it look worse than what it was.”

Reflecting on what happened in the ring, the decorated Irish hero, who returns against Miguel Marriaga [30(26)-5(1)] at the SSE Arena in Belfast on August 6, was content with how he performed for the most part.

The 30-year-old Olympic medal winner also claims he knows where he went wrong and knows the issues he has to correct to avoid a repeat against a puncher like Marriaga or in any potential rematch.

“I enjoyed the fight. I was in control for 99% of it and the last bit was fatigue. He is known as a big puncher but I took better shots than the one that knocked me over throughout the fight, it was just fatigue. It’s understanding that handing that and then trying to fix them mistakes,” he explains.

“There were a few things, there were things playing on outside which I don’t need to say. There were things in the ring which happened,” he adds before suggesting he was over eager after knocking Wood down in the opening stanza, something which played a part in how the fight ended.

“The first round knockdown first off, if that was 20 seconds earlier it was over. You do have to give him credit for his toughness and resilience, he was out and he was out for a few rounds.

“I got too eager and used so much energy trying to get him out where I could have just boxed his head off. It was too easy at times so I was standing and trading because of this ‘he is the bigger guy’ and stuff they were saying before. I was still beating him up on the inside and inflicting serious damage, it was too easy and I was using soo much energy. Plus I made the odd defensive error, staying on the ropes a little bit too wrong is one of them. There are many little things that went wrong that I can fix.”