Michael Conlan Readies For Saturday Return

On Wednesday afternoon in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Michael Conlan was part of a media workout in advance of his return to the ring after suffering a KO loss in the final round of his featherweight world title challenge to England’s Leigh Wood this past March.

And, one of the stars of the sport in that country will be battling a veteran in his return,

Fighting out of Belfast 🌺🏛 @MickConlan11 pic.twitter.com/FkklpyP7rb

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) August 3, 2022

From the Top Rank release Wednesday on the main event and the rest of the card,

“The Return of the Mick is almost here.

Featherweight contender Michael “Mick” Conlan (16-1, 8 KOs), the two-time Irish Olympian and Belfast native, makes his long-awaited ring return this Saturday, Aug. 6, in the 10-round main event against Miguel Marriaga (30-5, 26 KOs) at The SSE Arena Belfast. Conlan hopes to rebound from his dramatic 12th-round stoppage defeat to Leigh Wood, while Marriaga, a three-time world title challenger, is on the hunt for a fourth shot at the brass ring.

Fight week kicked off Wednesday with a media workout in Downtown Belfast, and Conlan went through the paces in front of an adoring crowd. The fans will pack The SSE Arena Belfast in three days for the fourth hometown bout of Conlan’s career.

A loaded fight card, headlined by Conlan-Marriaga, will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+ at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT. Irish welterweight sensation Paddy “Real Deal” Donovan (8-0, 6 KOs), rising featherweight Kurt Walker (2-0, 1 KO), and junior middleweight standout Kieran Molloy (1-0, 1 KO) will see action in separate bouts.”

Conlan suffered his only pro loss on a final round kayo in a frightening moment. This, as Wood hammered him with a right-left that sent his semi-conscious body under two of the four ropes and landed near his father and his cornermen outside the ring. Referee Steve King didn’t bother to count Conlan out, waving the fight off with Conlan still laying unconscious outside the ring.

The dramatic knockout sent the crowd in Leeds, England into a frenzy, but quickly attention turned to Conlan’s health. Luckily, he recovered quickly from the knockout and was treated and released from a local hospital.

Now, “Mick” Conlan is back in front of his fans and facing a fighter in the 35 year old Marriaga, who lost separate world title challenges to Vasiliy Lomachenko and Oscar Valdez in 2017, and is arguably the most experienced fighter Conlan’s ever faced.

Top Rank further announced that the Conlan-Marriaga card will begin on ESPN+ in the U.S. (2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT) with the slate below:

Michael Conlan vs. Miguel Marriaga, 10 rounds, featherweight

Tyrone McKenna vs. Chris Jenkins, 10 rounds, welterweight

Kieran Molloy vs. Evgenii Vazem 6 rounds, junior middleweight

Padraig McCrory vs. Marco Antonio Periban, 10 rounds, McCrory’s WBC International Silver Super Middleweight Title

Kurt Walker vs. Marcos Gabriel Martinez, 6 rounds, featherweight

Paddy Donovan vs. Tom Hill, 8 rounds, welterweight.