Michael Conlan was once a victim of fraudulent machinations in Olympic boxing. On September 9, the Irish boxer will contest his 23rd fight as a professional – and takes stock.
Irish boxing pro Michael Conlan (19-3-0, 9 knockouts) returns to the ring on September 9. The featherweight, who competes for Bob Arum’s promotion “Top Rank”, will then fight Jack Bateson (20-1-1, 6 knockouts) for the vacant “WBC International” belt in the 3Arena in Dublin.
Conlan, who turned professional in 2017, wants to box his way back up the rankings after a few disappointments. However, he has learned time and again in recent years as a prizefighter that this is not always so easy. The former interim WBA champion lost two of his last three fights.
The most famous middle finger in boxing
Looking back at the 2016 Olympic Games, there were a number of scandalous judgments at the boxing tournament in Rio de Janeiro under the umbrella of the former AIBA (now IBA). Michael Conlan was also affected: in the bantam quarter-finals in Rio , he was defeated by Russian Vladimir Nikitin, at least according to the judges. After the verdict was announced, Conlan expressed his disappointment and raised his middle finger. An image that went around the world and was symbolic.
The IOC subsequently carried out extensive investigations, which ultimately led to the exclusion of the AIBA as the governing body for Olympic boxing. Irony of history: Conlan defeated his former Olympic opponent unanimously on points in a ten-rounder in New York in 2019.
“When you fight in the amateur system, you have one fight and then one next week,” explained Conlan in an interview with “Boxingscene”. “Defeats and so on don’t matter. But in professional boxing, people’s lives matter. After a defeat, a boxer’s market value and earning potential drop – and the next prize money is much lower.”
In general, price boxes would spend much more money than what they actually earn in order to develop further. “You have to pay for a lot of things,” says the 33-year-old. “In the amateur sector, on the other hand, you don’t have to pay for sparring, nor for the hotel or travel.” All that is covered. But in professional boxing, your livelihood depends much more on the decision of the judges, advertising revenue and much more.
“More deserved than if I had won”
Conlan boxed at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and remained an amateur for another four years, hoping to turn a gold medal into a lucrative professional career. He didn’t win gold in 2016, but Conlan did launch a lucrative professional career shortly afterwards. However, the “stinky-fingered boxer” has no regrets about the extra four years, as his outburst of anger made him famous back then.
“I think the fact that I didn’t win the gold medal in Rio earned me more money than I would have earned if I had won it.” So he became famous before he had even thrown a single punch as a professional. “I traveled to America and sold out arenas on my debut. That doesn’t even happen to a gold medal winner.”
Playfulness is not his thing
But the 2015 amateur world champion (Bantam) never really wanted to monetize the middle finger. Although there was talk of merchandise such as T-shirts and foam hands. “I could probably still do that,” says Conlan. “Because – no joke – everywhere I go, people always want a picture of me making that gesture.” Even if he agrees, he doesn’t want to be reduced to that as a boxer.
Foam hands with an outstretched middle finger might still be selling like hot cakes in Dublin’s 3Arena on September 3. “That would be fun,” smiles Michael Conlan. “But it’s just a gimmick, and I don’t want to commit to gimmicks in the fight against Bateson.”
Text: Frank Schwantes