MICHAEL Conlan is set to return to action on September 5, with the Belfast man seemingly clinching onto his dream of becoming a world champion.
The two-time Olympian placed himself back in the win column last March, comprehensively outpointing Asad Asif Khan, a sturdy yet unremarkable operator, through eight rounds.
Before that, ‘Irish Mick Conlan’ had suffered back-to-back stoppage defeats to Luis Alberto Lopez and Jordan Gill, with both setbacks calling the future of his career into question.
But now, it would appear that the 33-year-old, who has expressed his title aspirations in recent years, remains eager to launch another stab at world honours before long.
According to BBC Sport, Conlan, 19-3 (9 KOs), is gearing up to face Jack Bateson, who remains several tiers below world level, at a venue in Dublin, Ireland.
While perhaps not acting as a launch pad for Conlan, whose lofty desires remain in the balance, Bateson has nonetheless established himself as a crafty technician on the domestic scene.
A disappointing night last December saw the 31-year-old box to a two-round technical draw against Danny Quartermaine, moments after the pair sustained cuts from an accidental head clash.
Bateson’s only defeat, meanwhile, arrived against super-bantamweight contender Shabaz Masoud in 2022, with the Yorkshireman having since floated between 126lbs and 130lbs.
Either way, Conlan, whose next outing was previously expected to be against European champion Cristobal Lorente, will be looking to catapult himself back into the featherweight world title picture sooner rather than later.
Whether he has enough left in the tank, however, remains to be seen, as consecutive victories against Khan and Bateson would, in truth, not exactly make for a compelling argument.
