Early this morning (December 3), in a 130-pound super featherweight battle that ended in Belfast, Northern Ireland, home fighter Michael Conlan was knocked out in a crushing battle with Briton Jordan Gill, and his boxing career may be over.
The 32-year-old has competed in two Olympic Games, including a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics, and after entering the professional boxing world, he was called the "European Mayweather" by legendary promoter Bob Arum for his excellent skills and sophisticated counterattacks, but unfortunately Conran's final performance did not reach the desired heights.
At first, Conran's career was smooth sailing, and it was thought that it was only a matter of time before he won the World Title, and his team was very strong, arranging for him to challenge WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood in 2022 after Conlan won a few victories. When the fight reached the 12th round, he was directly knocked out of the ring by his opponent and lost, and by the end of the confrontation, Conran was in the lead on the scorecards of the three judges, which can only be said to be a pity.
In May, Conran turned to IBF featherweight champion Luis Aberto Lopez and suffered an even worse defeat, losing five rounds.
Conran vs Gil battle, both fighters have been promoted from 126 pounds to 130 pounds super featherweight, 29-year-old Gil is a former European boxing champion, lost in the last game with 36-year-old Spanish veteran Cork Martinez, so against Conran, Gil is not favored, plus his knockdown rate was only 26% before, and it was a home game in Conran, so many fans and ** believe that Gil is not enough to win at all, but his performance was unexpected.
After the start of the match, Conran adopted a hit-and-go strategy, running all over the court in an attempt to make a breakthrough in the athletic battle, but knocked out the mediocre Gil and adopted a pressing offensive strategy, constantly pounced on the opponent, which made Conlan very uncomfortable.
In the second round, both sides fought in a melee at close range, and both seized the opportunity to play a head-on attack, but Gill's angle was more accurate, knocking down Conlan at once, and the audience was in an uproar. Conlan struggled a bit after the injury, his speed was greatly reduced, and he was very passive in the next two rounds. This battle is a clash between left-handers and traditional right-handers, so the backhand heavy attacks of both sides are extremely crucial, but Conlan's backhand attack is far less effective than Jill's, and technical statistics show that Jill's heavy punch hit rate as high as 44%, completely suppressing the opponent.
In 5-6 rounds, Conlan improved, counterattacking and hitting the target many times, but unfortunately it was more like a return to the light before the destruction. Soon after the start of the 7th round, Jill, who was like a rolling machine, hit Conlan again with heavy punches, causing Conlan to freeze, and before he could adjust, Jill's continuous punches came with a roar, and the referee saw that Conlan had lost his ability to fight, so he stepped forward to stop the match.
After this fight, Jill's record was rewritten to 28-2-1 and 9 KOs, while Conland's record dropped to 18-3 and 9 KOs. Conran was already at a crossroads in his career before the clash with Jill, and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, admitted:"If Conran loses, his career is over. ”
Conran did not talk about retirement after the defeat, and it is estimated that he needs to discuss it with his family and team, although he has not yet made a statement, but Ireland ** is blunt in commenting on this game-Retirement is beckoning to this boxing fighter!
Objectively speaking, judging from Conran's last two fights, there is really no need to persist in the next except for boxing, because his speed and reaction have declined significantly, and he seems to have lost the necessary qualities to become a champion, so Conran really needs to think about it, and it doesn't seem to make much sense to continue to hold on.
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