MICHAEL Conlan took his first steps on the road back towards world class by outpointing India’s Asad Asif Khan 78-74 on referee Bob Williams’ scorecard. The fight took place in the Brighton Centre, live in the UK on Channel 5.
Switching stances regularly, the Belfast man used his jab and timing to keep Khan at bay early, putting his foot on the gas more as the rounds went by. Conlan shed plenty of rust while easing into life under Wasserman Boxing.
Improving to 19-3 (9 KOs), two of those three losses on the Conlan slate have come at world title level. Khan was a solid opponent who lacked the power to cause any trouble. The referee still found a couple of rounds out of the eight to award the Calcutta visitor, now 19-6-1 (5 KOs).
After the bout, it was announced in the ring that Conlan would take on Spain’s European featherweight champion Cristobal Lorente, 20-0-1 (8 KOs).
“I wasn’t nervous, that’s the longest I’ve been out of the ring,” said Conlan, sporting a couple of bruised eyes for his efforts. It was counted out as 461 days since the Jordan Gill loss.
“He had a tough head, I hurt my left hand. I’ve known Nisse and Kalle Sauerland for a long time and we’ve become friends.”
