“I wouldn’t pay it if it was £1” – Mick Conlan responds to AIBA maximum fine

They hit him with the maximum fine, but the amount of money that the AIBA will get off Mick Conlan will be less than minimal.

The Belfast fighter was this week handed a fine of €9,335 for comments made in interview after his elimination at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The fighter, who will make his pro debut in New York on St Patrick’s Day, was ‘defeated’ by Russian Vladimir Nikitin in a globally-criticised points reverse in Brazil. After the clash, Conlan reacted passionately with a finger salute to the judges before giving a frank interview to RTE were he called the AIBA ‘f*cking cheats’.

This week, the AIBA issued him with a fine of 10,000 Swiss Francs, but Conlan has claimed he will not pay.

The Top Rank prospect told the Irish News that it’s a matter of principle, and is adamant he won’t be paying a penny.

“If the fine was £10, I still wouldn’t pay it and that’s the truth – I wouldn’t pay it if it was £1,” Conlan explained.

“It’s the principle of the whole thing – I know I was right and what I said was right. Maybe the fact I said it so publicly has shamed them, but they shamed me in that ring. They provoked that reaction so I believe I was in the right and that everything I did was right.”

“The fact they’ve fined me, it doesn’t bother me at all because until the day I die, I’ll never pay that fine.”

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Joe O’Neill and Gavan Casey look ahead to 2017 in episode 1 of The Irish Boxing Show