Michael Conlan Announces December Return
Featherweight contender Michael Conlan will return to action in his hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland, for his third fight of the year on Dec. 10, he announced on social media.
Conlan will face former European featherweight and bantamweight champion Karim Guerfi at the SSE Arena Belfast in a 10-rounder.
‼️ BACK TO BELFAST ‼️
We go again, December 10th @thessearenabelfast we had to come back to the SSE after an amazing night in August! We push on back to titles 💪🏼
Tickets go on presale next Monday & general sale starts next Wednesday. Prices starting from £30 pic.twitter.com/9hoXPiqdJa
— Michael Conlan (@mickconlan11) October 11, 2022
“Back to Belfast!! We go again, December 10th,” Conlan posted on Twitter. “We had to come back to the SSE after an amazing night in August! We push on back to titles.”
On Aug. 6, Conlan (17-1, 8 KOs), 30, a two-time Irish Olympian and 2012 bronze medalist, knocked down former world title challenger Miguel Marriaga three times en route to a one-sided 10-round decision win at the SSE Arena.
Conlan’s victory over Marriaga came five months after an epic, but losing battle with Leigh Wood in a challenge for the WBA “regular” featherweight title in Wood’s hometown of Nottingham, England on March 12.
Conlan knocked Wood down in the first round, cut and bruised his face and got knocked down himself in the 11th round but was leading on all three scorecards going into the final round when Wood authored a dramatic comeback and knocked Conlan out of the ring for the KO win in a leading fight of the year of the candidate.
Guerfi (31-6, 9 KOs), 35, of France, lost the European featherweight title by ninth-round knockout to Jordan Gill on Feb. 27 but rebounded for a 10-round decision win over Ricardo Mercado on July 1.
The immensely popular Irishman also has a following in the northeast United States, especially in New York. And, Top Rank Boxing, Conlan’s U.S. co-promoter, has had him fight previously on fight cards there centered around the St. Patrick’s Day holiday.
That night will also have a Top Rank show in New York featuring former unified lightweight champ Teofimo “the Takeover” Lopez battling veteran Jose Pedraza in a junior welterweight clash.
Since 2000, award-winning reporter Dan Rafael has covered boxing full time and been ringside for thousands of fights, first for five years at USA Today and then for 15 years at ESPN, where he wrote and appeared on various television, radio and streaming programs. In 2013, Dan was honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America with the Nat Fleischer award for career excellence in boxing journalism. Dan brings his great insight to the Big Fight Weekend site, podcast and more!
