MICHAEL CONLAN has tried to explain his surprising performance in defeat to Luis Alberto Lopez last month.
Their fight was billed as a 50-50 and the betting odds proved as much with both boxers the same price to win.
Critically, however, Conlan had home advantage at the SSE Arena in Belfast with several thousand fans in his corner. Lopez though had already picked up a big-time win in hostile territory when he defeated Josh Warrington last year.
When Lopez and Conlan squared off in the ring it didnโt take long before โEl Venadoโ dragged the hometown hero into a brawl. Each man gave the other opportunities to tee off on one another, but it was Lopez who hit harder and ended the fight in round five with an uppercut leaving the Belfast crowd stunned.
โThat wasnโt anywhere near the type of performance I put on. I just didnโt feel like I was myself in there at all,โ Conlan said in the Belfast Telegraph.
โI canโt complain as the training camp was perfect,โ he added.
It had initially been a bright start for Conlan before Lopez went on the front foot and grabbed control of the fight forcing the Olympic medallist into a trade-off.
โThings I never do in any fight like going to have a firefight with a guy you shouldnโt be doing it with and have much better boxing ability than… it was a weird one,โ Conland said.
โMy head wasnโt right, and things didnโt feel right when I was warming up. I donโt know what it was, I canโt put my finger on it.โ
The warning signs for Conlan had been there prior to the punch that ended the fight. When the 31-year-old was eventually down on the floor it took his trainer Adam Booth mere seconds to throw in the towel thus removing the chance for Conlan to get back up and receive more damaging punches.
โAdam knew I wasnโt doing anything weโd planned to do,โ Conlan said.
โI wasnโt following any type of game plan and he said to be in the round before, โListen, Iโm going to stop this if you donโt wise up and start doing what youโre meant to be doingโ.
โAdam asked if I was okay and I said, โYeahโ, but really, I was somewhere else.
โFor some reason โ and I donโt know why โ it was the first time in my whole career Iโve felt that way. I was just off and canโt explain why.
โI didnโt follow the game plan and things went wrong on the night and I lost.โ
With two nightmare defeats against Leigh Wood and Lopez in the space of 14 months there is now an air of uncertainty surrounding Conlanโs career.