Michael Conlan rebounded from his first professional loss to win a 10-round unanimous decision over Miguel Marriaga in a featherweight bout in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
In round seven, Conlan was credited with a knockdown when landed a left as Marriaga seemed to be slipping down. In round eight, Conlan sent Marriaga down again with a combination. Marriaga went down in round nine when he he ate more punches from Conlan.
Conlan, 127.9 lbs of Belfast, NI won by scores of 99-88 twice and 99-89 and is now 17-1. Marriaga, 126.4 lbs of Colombia is 30-6.
Conlan said, “I had to get rid of a lot of demons tonight. Even in the fuc*ing last round, he hit me with a shot. That guy can punch. {He has} 10 more knockouts than I have fights. He hit me with a jab in the first round, and it was like, ‘Oh, this guy actually can bang.’ I had to be careful and use my skills, which I did. In the last round, he caught me with a shot. Listen, I’ve been using my legs all night. I was a bit off the pace. He was pushing it. He landed a good shot. He buckled me a little bit. I felt it, and for me, to kind of come through that and it’s the last round… I got knocked out in my last fight in the last round. I think that says a lot. I’m back, baby. I’m ready for any of them.
“Obviously, I want Leigh Wood. It’s obvious, but Leigh has his own situation. So, hopefully he can deal with that and come through and the rematch can be done. If not, it’s any other champion. I want to get back in. I will be world champion, and I know I will. Whoever I face, I know I’ll beat him.”
Tyrone McKenna won a 10-round unanimous decision over Chris Jenkins in a welterweight bout.
McKenna, 147.4 lbs won by scores of 97-94 and 96-95 twice and is now 23-5-1. Jenkins, 146.8 lbs is now 23-6-3.
Padraig McCrory remained undefeated with a fifth round stoppage over former world title challenger Marco Antonio Periban in a 10-round super middleweight affair.
In round two, McCrory dropped Periban with a right hand. In round five, McCrory continued to batter Periban until the referee stopped the bout at 2:40.
McCrory, 167.9 lbs of Northern Ireland is 14-0 with eight knockouts. Periban, 165 lbs of Mexico is 26-6-1.
Kurt Walker won a six-round decision over Marcos Gabriel Martinez in a featherweight bout.
Walker, 127.6 lbs won by a score of 59-55 and is now 3-0. Martinez, 126.2 lbs is 18-4.
Paddy Donovan remained undefeated with a eight-round decision over Tom Hill in a welterweight bout.
In round two, Hill began to bleed from the nose.
Donovan, 146.8 lbs of Limerick, IRE won by a 80-72 tally and is now 9-0. Hill, 147 lbs of Sunderland, ENG is 10-3.
Donovan said, “It’s very important to get the rounds in. Tommy is a very, very tough fighter. We knew that before. He hopped in the ring before he accepted the challenge. He’s beat the Irish number one welterweight, knocking him down twice in the fight, so we know what he’s capable of.”
