The top-flight career of Michael Conlan is surely over after a 10-round split points loss to the unheralded Kevin Walsh on Friday at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. One score of 97-93 to Conlan was trumped by two scores of 96-94 for Walsh. The locals didn’t like it, but Walsh certainly did.
“It was a close fight,” said the huge underdog afterwards. “But I got it done …
“It’s my time!”
Beforehand, Conlan still believed. Lights from the archetypal Last Chance Saloon guided him to the battleground, his focus on victory clear as he entered the battleground. But he could sense the end, no doubt. Beforehand he'd promised to retire should he lose. Such promises, after a career in which world titles and Olympic medals cruelly eluded him, can weigh heavy.
Yet hopes remained that Conlan, even after losses in each of his most recent high-profile bouts, could regroup to such an extent that he realized his world title dreams. Yet, perhaps, it was those defeats – to Leigh Wood, Luis Alberto Lopez and Jordan Gill, all inside schedule – that explained the selection of Walsh as the opponent.
A 33-year-old from Brockton, Massachusetts, Walsh came into this 10-rounder with a glossy record but very little in the way of experience at anything approaching top level.
Conlan, a year older and a 2016 Olympian, could boast a return to form of sorts when he halted Jack Bateson in four rounds last September, and on pedigree alone the Northern Irishman was head and shoulders above his latest opponent.
The favorite began this fight like he had begun every fight: right hand probing, his left ready to strike. Seemingly controlled, Conlan nonetheless exhibited what was at stake; there was nervousness to his work, an awareness that the end of it all, his beloved boxing career, could soon be nigh.
By the end of the second round, after taking several right hands that caused blood to escape, Conlan looked to his corner for advice. Already, one sensed, he realized the fire inside had gone out.
Walsh, meanwhile, remained composed. Relieved, almost, that nothing was expected from him, he continued to attack. His right followed his left, a bounce followed a crouch, a step back came after a lunge too far.
Yet there were few punches landing. Walsh – perhaps because expectations of his chances were so low, and because he was growing in confidence – seemed the aggressor. Conlan's work was classier but it came too infrequently to conjure any illusion of control.
That he popped his jab but struggled to land any follow-up blows was surely testament to his safety-first approach and growing awareness that his dreams of becoming a world champion were over.
Walsh showed ambition, though, particularly in the last round. And it was that ambition, his right hand in particular was accurate all night, that made Walsh the winner tonight.
