Conlan to steal show
26 May 2010 – By Cormac Campbell
Sporting a horizontal graze underneath his right eye following a spar with lightweight Andy Murray, flweight Jamie Conlan knows all about tangling with the big boys.
Indeed, it appears the only boxer his own weight willing to engage in regular spars is younger brother and Irish amateur international Michael.
Andy gave it to me yesterday, its just a graze really, the Velcro bit of his glove hit it, he told irish-boxing.com.
It is great sparring with him. He is bigger both in terms of height and reach so I have to work that bit harder. You have to throw a wee bit more power at him and also Sweet Pea OHara to keep them off and they make you work for every minute of every round. But John (Breen) says I am hitting harder on the pads so it is working.
My brother is in Italy with the Irish team at the minute, but we will start sparring soon which means I can work on my speed.
Conlan is also working on his core fitness, by way of gruelling weekend runs with gymmates OHara and Stephen Haughian on Slieve Gullion, South Armagh. Because of such preparation would take a title shot at the first opportunity.
The training is building me up for the day when I will be main event so I am looking forward to that. John thinks I could be ready to fight for a title by the end of the year which is great. I would also like to win the Prospect of the Year award this year. Youve seen (2008 winner) Martin Lindsay getting a World title eliminator and (2009 winner) Carl Frampton is going the right way as well. So to follow in their footsteps would be great.
The next step is an undercard slot on the June 11 Kings Hall bill.
I would love to steal the show a little and get a bit of exposure on Sky, he beamed.
I was hoping this was going to be another eight rounder, Im actually training as if it was a 10 rounder but more than likely it will be a four rounder. I would like an English opponent to improve my ranking for the British title, but whoever it is I will go in and do my job.
Im big at the weight so I am happy to give away a little weight but not too much.
Stay tuned to irish-boxing.com for all the build-up to the June 11 Kings Hall bill.
