Things are looking up again for Michael Conlan.
The 30-year-old was dominant against Miguel Marriaga on Saturday in his hometown of Belfast, with Conlan scoring a unanimous decision victory over the Colombian. The win comes less than five months after Conlan famously lost to Leigh Wood in brutal fashion to end what many felt was a fight of the year candidate.
Conlan was understandably left disheartened by the nature of the loss to Wood back in March, so his performance on Saturday at the SSE Arena went a long way towards building up his self-confidence while also showing the world that he could still put on a show.
“I had to get rid of a lot of demons tonight, even in the f—ing last round, you know, 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,’” Conlan said after defeating Marriaga.
“I had to be careful, use my skills, which I did. In the last round, he caught me with a shot. I’d been using my legs all night. I was a bit off the pace. He was pushing it. He landed a good shot and buckled me a bit. I felt it. For me, to come through that — it’s the last round, I got knocked out in my last fight [vs. Wood] in the last round. I think that says a lot.”
The scorecard officially read 99-88, 99-88, 99-89 for Conlan (17-1, 8 KO), but the victory over 35-year-old Marriaga (30-6, 26 KO) was much more about redemption for the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist — and he now wants another shot at Wood.
“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," Conlan said.
“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.”