THE magnitude and importance of what lies ahead are significant for Port Talbot’s Conor McIntosh (9-2). An opportunity at the prestigious Lonsdale belt, the ultimate stepping stone to bigger and better opportunities.
The 30-year-old will go head-to-head with Newport’s Nathan Howells (11-1-1, 2KOs) in a final eliminator for the British super-featherweight title at Cardiff’s Vale Sports Arena on Saturday, September 13. The two combatants will meet in the squared circle for the second time, which will be around 22 months since their first encounter in the Welsh capital.
“As soon as I turned professional, I said, ‘I want to win a British title’, you can ask anybody, all the interviews that I’ve done since turning pro or even as an amateur, I’ve talked about it,” began McIntosh, who is nearing the end of an intense training camp under the guidance of Enzo Maccarinelli.
“Training’s been great, always is. Enzo pushes me to my limits, but knows when to rein it in as well. Everything has been structured, and gone well. I work full-time, so work has been good with me having the odd hour here and there off to accommodate training. It’s gone really well.
“It definitely is (my biggest fight to date), a hundred per cent. Me and Nathan have boxed before, but there is a lot more on the line now. We’ve both improved over the last couple of years since we last boxed each other. It’ll be just under two years since we boxed; it’s given us both time to improve and work on our strengths and weaknesses.
“I’m not looking past it at all. I’m not thinking, just because of what happened last time, I’m just going to do the same again. I know it’s going to be a tough fight.”
Since their last meeting, McIntosh has remained active, waiting patiently for a significant opportunity. A little under a year on, and after triumphs over Brayan Mairena and Owen Durnan in Cardiff and Llanelli, respectively, he landed himself a huge opportunity.
For the first time in his professional career, he was fighting outside of the United Kingdom, in the self-governing British Overseas Territory in the western Caribbean, the Cayman Islands. It wasn’t the picturesque beaches, scuba diving or holidaying that McIntosh made the nearly 10,000-mile round-trip for. It was a challenge for the vacant World Boxing Federation super-featherweight title.
The 130lbs fighter that evening was unable to capture his second pro title, having been beaten by India’s Mandeep Jangra unanimously after 12 rounds. “Nathan hasn’t boxed twelve rounds. Fighting twelve rounds in the Cayman Islands is completely different,” he said.
“Honestly, the heat, I was only there for a few days before we had to box, I’m getting used to the heat and acclimatising. It was just one of those things where I really found out a lot about myself. So if I can do twelve rounds over there, I can do twelve over here. It was a good experience all in all.”
When talking about how much he’s improved as a fighter since the first meeting against Howells, he added: “I’m a completely different fighter now.
“Much more mature, composed, I’ve gotten stronger, fitter, because I’ve never really taken my foot off the gas.”
The winner will be granted a golden opportunity at the British super-featherweight title, which Southampton’s Ryan Garner currently holds, alongside both the European and Commonwealth titles.
The matchup itself against Howells will be showcased live domestically in Wales on S4C. This is the first time since 2017 that boxing has been broadcast on the network.
“It’s great, I’m a fluent Welsh speaker as well. I’ve been brushing up on my Welsh as I don’t get to speak it that much, like no one speaks it,” joked McIntosh.
“I’ve made sure my daughter (Bronagh) goes to a Welsh school now, and me and her have little chats and stuff about what she knows and doesn’t. I love being Welsh, I think you should all be proud of where you’re from.”
The pair’s last meeting was back in November 2023, where McIntosh claimed the Welsh super-featherweight title emphatically. He had Howells down four times, once in the first, twice in the second and once more in the eighth of the scheduled 10 rounds. Scoring referee Reece Carter scored the contest 96-91 in favour of the man from Port Talbot.
“If I’m being honest, if somebody did that to me, what I did to him that night, I would lose sleep over it for the rest of my days. But if I had the opportunity to put it right, which he’s been given, I’ll make sure that no stone has been left unturned whatsoever.
“On paper, I’m expected to win, so I suppose that does bring a lot of pressure on me, but I’m in no way going into this thinking like I’m going to do the exact same thing that I did last time and it’ll be fine. It’s going to be a completely different Conor McIntosh; it’ll be fireworks,” he concluded.
