Michael Conlan closed out the year with a quick and confidence building victory over France’s Karim Guerfi.
The fight marks the third of Conlan’s year – impressive considering the first was a devastating knockout loss to Leigh Wood after a hard twelve rounds.
Having been practicing his southpaw stance, Conlan perhaps presented too tricky a puzzle for Guerfi – who entered the ring with six losses on his record.
With 45 seconds of the round to go, the Frenchman covered up as Conlan unloaded to his body before moving upstairs, the shots only getting faster and more rhythmic.
His drum-beating punches put the away fighter down, and referee Steve Gray started the count. A stumble from, Guerfi, when he stood was enough for him to wave the contest off. It marked the first time in Conlan’s career that he ended a fight in round one – he later told Boxing Social that it ‘was lovely.’
.@MickConlan11 with a first round TKO in front of the hometown crowd in Ireland 🇮🇪 #ConlanGuerfipic.twitter.com/KBc7JISWYK
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) December 10, 2022
Post-fight, ‘Mick’ told the crowd that he knew the stoppage was coming, and that he wanted to return to the ring in March.
“I knew I was hurting him fro the start. I want to fight for a world title back here on St Patrick’s Day in front of this crowd. But now I want to enjoy Christmas with my family as I love Christmas.”
He has made no secret that he wants to win a world title, and a busy year ending on a high like this puts him in a good position to do so in 2023.
As he was entertaining the fans in Belfast, one of the straps – the IBF – changed hands in Leeds. Josh Warrington lost via majority decision to Mexico’s Luis Alberto Lopez. It’s likely that the new champion will be high up on the Irishman’s hit list, as well as a rematch with Nottingham’s Wood.