Gavan Casey reports from The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York
MICHAEL CONLAN MIGHT have lost some momentum back home during a year in which he was unable to speak with Irish media for reasons beyond his control, but he remains a big deal to the Irish diaspora in The Big Apple, who for the third straight year flocked to watch him at a green-white-and-orange-lit Madison Square Garden on St Patrick’s weekend.
A crowd of 4,000 or so nearly took the roof off the Hulu Theater as Conlan was awarded a shutout victory over Mexico’s Ruben Hernandez Garcia, 100-90 x3. The Belfast man moves to 11-0, 6KOs after a polished performance, much improved on his last outing against Jason Cunningham in Manchester last December.
Conlan predominantly targeted his opponent’s body over the 10 rounds, landing an impressive 37% of his 690 total punches. He barely took a lick in return: Garcia Hernandez, who brought with him to the ring a record of 24-3-2 with 10 KOs, threw just 396 shots, landing 18%.
“Ireland built New York. Ireland is in New York tonight!” Conlan told his rapturous support following his Patrick’s Day victory. “And Ireland fucking runs New York!”
As far as his performance, Conlan said: “I think I just used my skills as I said I would. I think I showed a lot of good defensive movements and things I’ve been working on. We were in no rush to try and take out this guy. He’s tough. He went the distance with [Nonito] Donaire and a few other top fighters. He had a tough head on him. There were a few times I probably could’ve stepped on it, but we wanted to practice things we’ve been working on. I felt I did that tonight.”
Then, he called upon his Olympic ‘conqueror’, Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin, for the opportunity to set the record straight in the pro ranks. Nikitin had featured earlier on Conlan’s bill, also winning on points.
Vladimir, I know you’re here tonight. We need to do it again for the fans. I need to right a wrong that shouldn’t have been written.
Conlan had recently reiterated that his overtly proud, tricolour-wielding sense of ‘Irishness’ has never been intended to divide; his entrance to Aoife Scott and Róisín O’s rendition of ‘Grace’ in Belfast last summer, while borderline iconic in its online transcendance, sparked some mind-numbing debate in his hometown.
It got another spin across the pond tonight as Conlan descended from the top steps at The Theater, but this time it played into The Wolfe Tones’ ‘Celtic Symphony’, which brought the noise and sing-along to a stratospheric volume.
In the latest of his series of spectacular ringwalks, Conlan was flanked by brother Jamie and WWE superstar Finn Balor, the latter of whom waved the tricolour from the ropes as his younger compatriot, sporting dark green garb, paced the ring and soaked in the noise.
Conlan fought in the southpaw stance essentially for the duration but kept Garcia Hernandez guessing throughout the opener, switching briefly to orthodox and back again.
The Falls Road featherweight targeted the Mexico City resident’s body with his backhand left, zoning in on the solar plexus, but Garcia Hernandez — who went the distance with four-weight world champion and explosive puncher Nonito Donaire in 2017 — tucked up well and kept himself out of harm’s way early.
Garcia Hernandez, strictly orthodox, drew the odd roar from his own corner in his infrequent bids to fire back. Despite the 4,000-strong crowd’s best efforts — ‘Olé Olé’ was given an early whirl — a tactical battle had unfolded by the end of the second and sucked most of the noise out of the building.
Conlan, two years his foe’s senior at 27, drew a ripple of excitement by way of a good combination to Garcia Hernandez’s body at the dawn of the third. As he began to step on the gas slightly, he swallowed a left hook upstairs in response, smiling toward the Mexican and nodding in acknowledgement.
The former Irish Olympian dropped his hands in the fourth in a bid to goad Garcia Hernandez forward and tee him up to be countered, but the underdog was wise to his game. Conlan did stagger him slightly halfway through that entry, Garcia Hernandez tumbling backwards towards the ropes, but it seemed to be an issue of balance more than anything. His eyes were clear and he pivoted back towards centre-ring unscathed.
Sporting his children’s names — Luisne and Michael Jr — on his own waistband, Conlan landed a thudding shot below his opponent’s belt in the fifth. He raised his hands instantly in apology, and Garcia Hernandez was given a moment’s respite. He dropped to his haunches in his blue corner before returning to centre-ring where he and Conlan touched gloves.
It may have spurred something in the Mexican, for he was more aggressive to begin the sixth. He pinned Conlan to the ropes and left fly but didn’t land much. Conlan, who wriggled his way free before long, then produced his finest 90 seconds of boxing to that point, stinging Garcia Hernandez to the body with each hand and landing a sharp right upstairs.
The onlooking former Irish middleweight John Duddy — a fans’ favourite in these parts — could clearly be heard roaring, ‘Let’s go, Michael!’ a couple of times during the seventh, which gives an indication as to how quiet the arena had fallen during an encounter which always retained the attention of ringside observers but refused to ignite.
Conlan breathed a bit more life into the venue throughout round eight, stringing together a couple of eye-catching combinations but again focusing the majority of his work downstairs.
He switched back to orthodox in the ninth but found little more success than he’d been getting as a lefty.
The crowd rose to meet the applauding Conlan ahead of the final verse, a noise which proved the catalyst for a bit of a sing-song. Conlan put his foot down towards the final bell, sitting down on his shots and letting fly with a five- or six-punch barrage to the body which brought his audience to its feet once more.
His trainer, Adam Booth, said post-fight:
These are developmental rounds that will help him become a world champion. I am very pleased with what I saw in there. He is working on exactly what we practising in the gym, and it’s working.
American boxing great Andre Ward was also an impressed observer, telling reporters that he believes Conlan is “exactly where he needs to be” on his road towards the top.
Across the ring from the media seats, WWE star Finn Balor — a native of Bray — had remained glued to the reaction throughout.
🇮🇪 @mickconlan11 #ConlanHernandez pic.twitter.com/R7LdzYBUgV
— Finn Bálor forEVERYone (@FinnBalor) March 17, 2019
“It’s a big step down! A big step down,” he told The42 with a laugh, referring not to Conlan’s performance, but the fact that he was filling the shoes of Conor McGregor who walked Conlan to the ring for his professional debut at he same venue two years ago.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know Mick — I’ve met him at a few media events and through MSG, here, in recent years. He’s a good chap. It’s a real honour to be able to walk him into the ring.
“A couple of times, we’ve wanted to do it but the stars just haven’t quite aligned for us over the last couple of years.
The WWE has a pretty hectic schedule. But I flew into New York yesterday, had today off, and there’s nothing I’d rather do on a day off in New York City than walk to the ring with Michael Conlan.
