‘Finally!’ – Delighted Conor Doherty happy to punch for pay

Two years after he was promising to bring some highlight reel knockouts to Irish professional boxing Conor Doherty finally made his pro debut on Celtic Clash 9 – and having suffered rather than inflicted pain for 18 months he is now taking a more pragmatic approach.

The Belfast fighter had to show patience as potential debuts fell through for a variety of reasons over the last year and a half – and he is keen to remain patient now that he has finally got the ball rolling.

The 24-year-old, who last year suffered a knee injury that required surgery and was so severe that he feared for his future as a boxer, believes he needs time to ease his way back into the game. As a result he is happy just to bank rounds over the next few months.

“Finally,” sighed the noted puncher after his debut points win. “After two years I’ve got the debut out of the way. This is just a starting point. I want to get busy, keep shaking off the rust and keep learning.”

Doherty admits he felt ring rust against Pawel Martyniuk, but feels that will oil off with activity.

“There was always going to be ring rust. I haven’t really been in the ring for two years because I didn’t spar that much either. The more fights the better for me now, so we just have to keep it going. He was tall and awkward and took some crackers,” he continued before reflecting positively on proceedings.

“It felt amazing. I had a bit of nerves from the start, but I felt at home in there. I will get back in the gym as soon as possible and I’d love to fight as soon as possible.”

Coach Paul Hyland also preached from the patience is a virtue hymn sheet with regards to Doherty and suggested these are early day fights are more important for him than most.

“He has time on his side. These are important fights. Some people don’t realise it but your first few fights are important. He will take more out of that than he would putting someone away, especially as he was out for so long. See the next one, I’d be happy with four good rounds again. The more rounds the better, he can bang, but I’d prefer rounds than knockouts for now.”