Flyweight Conlan aiming for titles in 2010
Belfast’s hot prospect flyweight Jamie Conlan is aiming to keep busy in 2010 and believes title opportunities could come knocking by the end of the year. The domestic talent pool at his eight stone weight class is relatively thin on the ground and Conlan is striving to keep active. (Photos copyright Steve Wellings).“I’m not sure what they have lined-up next but there was talk about a date in March,” explained the 22-year-old. “I’m back in training already working hard; I love training and always give 100 per cent. I’m still getting great sparring – I’ve actually sparred Luke Wilton in the past as he’s in and around my weight class.”
Fellow prospect Wilton is also hovering around the lower weights and the Eastside man is steadily building his record and confidence following some early setbacks. Conlan, meanwhile, is still smarting after an untimely injury forced him off the recent Matthew Macklin headliner in Dublin.
“I was gutted to miss out on that Dublin card, especially as I attended the fight and sampled the atmosphere,” said Jamie, who would have been making his second pro outing. “I think a ligament in my shoulder went, during the last days of sparring, I threw a left hook to the body and everything went numb. It isn’t a long-running problem; I saw the physio and got advice on strengthening the muscles over Christmas. The most frustrating thing was that come fight night it felt great.”
Coming from the same neck-of-the-woods as the popular Martin Rogan, the West Belfast man was able to shift plenty of tickets for his Odyssey debut in November – a points win over tricky Anwar Alfadi. Solving the rubix cube style of Alfadi is difficult enough for any debut fighter, yet Jamie used his range finding jab and right hand to measure the Sheffield man. A bad cut in the dying seconds of the contest (six stitches required) proved a marginal disappointment on an otherwise good night’s work as he ran home a 39-37 victor on Ian John Lewis’s scorecard.
Playing his trade under veteran coach John Breen, Conlan is delighted with the amateur to professional transition: “Everything’s working brilliantly with John, we’re back on pads and strength work. Everyday I’m doing something different. I want to get as much time in the ring this year as I possibly can.”Submitted by Steve Wellings on 9 January, 2010 - 18:49
