‘Be the best Michael Conlan that I can be and I know that no judge in the world can rob me’

Michael Conlan

MICHAEL CONLAN is no stranger to bad decisions. His loss in the quarter-finals of the 2016 Olympic Games caused consternation. Recriminations stemmed from that tournament overall. International amateur boxing is still struggling to reform and boxing currently has been left off the programme for the 2028 Olympic Games.

โ€œUntil this organisation that is still in power [AIBA now rebranded as IBA] is completely clean and we can be sure of that, theyโ€™ve shot themselves in the foot and took themselves out of the Games, not no one else. Although me talking about it and shouting about it helped. They need to get it sorted,โ€ Conlan said. โ€œItโ€™s unfortunate for the fighters, 100 percent, I donโ€™t think there should be an Olympic Games without boxing and itโ€™ll be really sad to see an Olympic Games without boxing. But weโ€™ve got a bit of time yet, hopefully they can fix it by then.

โ€œIt’s been going on for so long. It took till 2016 and me shouting about it for something to actually be done about it. Now something seems to be done about. Can it be fixed? Itโ€™s a massive question.

โ€œTheyโ€™ve got to get their act together.โ€

The UK is no stranger to bad decisions in professional boxing. The repercussions of the Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall fight are rumbling through the sport. โ€œThere will be international judges in this fight. This will not just be UK judges,โ€ Conlan said. โ€œWhy would any fighter want to come to the UK and fight?

โ€œItโ€™s becoming very, very tough to get decisions and thatโ€™s unfortunate. Hopefully come March 12 with the eyes of the world watching and everything thatโ€™s happened I donโ€™t have to flip the f**king bird again and go crazy. Hopefully.โ€

Conlan remains confident in how he has pictured this fight with Wood developing. โ€œWhen Iโ€™ve sat and visualised about it, Iโ€™ve seen me knocking him out, Iโ€™ve seen me stopping him. Iโ€™ve seen me beating him on points as well. Iโ€™ve seen every kind of outcome which I want to see in this fight. Which one comes to fruition, Iโ€™ll just have to find that out on the night,โ€ he said. โ€œIโ€™m not worried about knocking anybody out or doing anything like that. If it comes it comes. It quite possibly could come but at the same time Iโ€™m just focused on being the best Michael Conlan that I can be. I know if I can do that no judge in the world can rob me.

โ€œI can beat him on the front foot, I can beat him going on the back foot, I can beat him as an orthodox, I can beat him southpaw. It doesnโ€™t matter what gameplan I choose.

โ€œLeighโ€™s a good fighter but Iโ€™m here just to beat him. Whatever way it happens weโ€™ll see on the night.โ€

The Wood-Conlan winner will have a rich array of options ahead of him. โ€œWhether we consider having the winner of Kiko Martinez vs Josh Warrington or whether we go down the route of the WBO [belt] with Emanuel Navarrete, these are all possibilities. Or whether we consider a massive showdown in Belfast in the summer, I donโ€™t know, a massive name or a world title on the line but weโ€™ll have plenty of options. I know Top Rank have a lot of stuff lined up after this, weโ€™ll have to see,โ€ Conlan said.

But he canโ€™t look too far ahead. โ€œAll that matters is the 36 minutes between me and Leigh Woodโ€ฆโ€

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