Wins for Haughian and Conlan

19 September 2010 by Steve Wellings

Two Irish prospects recorded solid wins on the Ulster Hall undercard and kept their careers moving forward. Jamie Conlan could find regular work hard to come by at his natural flyweight division but managed to stave off the threat of Bulgarian Hyusein Hyuseinov. Irish welterweight champion Stephen Haughian helped erase the memory of his Celtic title defeat to Kevin McIntyre by outpointing Dee Mitchell over six-threes.

I see things I can work on, I want to improve and get better, Conlan commented. I dont think I missed him with an uppercut tonight and it was nice switching from head to body.

I was giving away a bit of weight tonight but I spar light-welterweight Michael Kelly in the gym so I dont mind handling the bigger guys. I feel Im sitting down more on my punches and Ive been working on the uppercut and left hook to the body in training.

Meanwhile, Haughians smooth moves and sharp counter punching had returned and Stephen admitted that a lack of activity and ring rust had hurt his progression before this latest outing.

I felt a whole lot better tonight compared to the Kings Hall night, said the Lurgan native.

John [Breen] and I have been getting back to basics and the snap was lacking last time after being absent for nine months. The punches were free flowing tonight and Ive got six rounds in against a good, durable opponent.

Promoter Barry McGuigan envisages title shots for both men in the near future.

Jamie Conlan is not far off a title fight and Stephen Haughian has reaffirmed how good his potential is, Barry reckoned. He beat a tough, durable opponent [Dee Mitchell] and hes right back in the mix now. I thought that Haughians body shots were fantastic tonight and he relit the flame of his career while giving away some natural weight.