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Michael Conlan TURNS Professional – Boxing News

nintchdbpict000259809286-e1471362624256By James “The Truth” Doell

Two time Irish Olympian Michael Conlan is turning professional and has signed a deal with Top Rank. Bob Arum, the founder and CEO of Top Rank, and Conlan, announced the deal via twitter on Monday. He has also signed a deal to be managed by MGM (Macklin’s Gym Marbella), owned by former three-time middleweight world title challenger Matthew Macklin. He will be training out of the Rock Gym in Carson, California, along with current WBO featherweight world champion Oscar Valdez, 20-0, 18 KO’s.

Conlan is from Belfast, Ireland, and he has had a very accomplished amateur career. He finished first in the Northern Ireland National Championships in 2009 and again in 2010, but came up short in the Irish Nation championship later that year, losing in the semifinals. He bounced back in 2011, winning his first Irish national championship, and followed that up by winning it again the next year. Conlan also competed in the 2012 London Olympics.

In his debut; he beat Ghanaian Duke Micah, and followed it up by beating French Olympian Nordine Oubaali to guarantee that he would bring home a medal. Unfortunately, he lost a semifinal bout to Robeisy Ramirez, of Cuba, who went on to win gold at flyweight. Ramirez also beat U.S. boxer Shakur Stevenson to win his second gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, this time at bantamweight.

After bringing home a bronze medal from the London games; Conlan went on to compete in his first season of world series of boxing. The World Series of Boxing is a competition ran by the AIBA (Amateur International Boxing Association), in which boxers from around the world are drafted to teams and compete against each other in a league format. Conlan went 1-1 in the World Series of boxing during 2013; losing to Wales boxer Andrew Selby and beating Italy’s D’andrea Riccardo.

Conlan would compete in the World Series of Boxing again the following year; beating Meirbolat Toitov, of Kazakhstan before winning the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

In 2015; Conlan again competed in the World Series of Boxing, this time in an effort to earn a qualifying spot at the 2016 Rio Games. He was drafted by the Italia Thunder, and fought seven times within 14 weeks, winning five out of seven to secure a spot at Rio. To cap off 2015, Conlan became the first Irish man to win a gold medal in a world championship by winning the 2015 AIBI World Boxing Championships.

what happened to Conlan at the 2016 Olympics made his name known all around the world. He lost a very controversial decision to Vladimir Nikitin, of Russia, in the quarter finals. Conlan started the Olympics with a 3-0 victory over Armenian boxer Aram Avagyan in the round of 16, and looked very good. Boxing fans were anticipating a matchup between Conlan and top U.S. bantamweight; Shakur Stevenson. Everybody was surprised when the decision was announced and Conlan wasn’t the winner. Most fans and experts around the world felt that Conlan had did enough to earn a victory, and so did Conlan himself. After the fight; he gave double middle fingers to the ringside judges and claimed he had been robbed. He also sent out a series of tweets claiming that the AIBI is corrupt and that the judges were paid off. The 24-year-old also stated that he would be turning professional following the Olympics.

Top rank is one of the top promotional companies in boxing. They have been around for over 40 years, and have promoted over 400 championship fights. They currently promote some of the biggest names in boxing, including Timothy Bradley, Terence Crawford, Jessie Vargas, and Manny Pacquiao, among others. Big things are expected for Michael Conlan in the future, and his professional career will surely be one to keep an eye on.

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