Michael Conlan
The Irish Athletic Boxing Association wish Michael Conlan the best of luck in the professional ranks.
The Belfast bantamweight, the only Irish boxer besides Katie Taylor to win a World Elite title, inked pro terms with Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions of the USA in Las Vegas last night to bring the curtain down on a glittering amateur career.
Conlan secured a bronze medal for Ireland at the London 2012 Olympics and a European Elite title in Bulgaria in 2015 along with his fellow Rio Olympian Joe Ward.
The double gold and Dean Walsh’s bronze helped Ireland finish in second spot in the medals table.
Also in 2015, he achieved what no other Irish male boxer had done before him after claiming World Elite gold in Doha, Qatar.
The top of the podium finish on the Persian Gulf qualified Conlan for the second time – he had already booked a Rio 2016 ticket through the World Series of Boxing with Italia Thunder – for the same Olympics.
The two-time Irish Olympian, who also won Commonwealth gold, John Joe Nevin and Katie Taylor are the only three Irish boxers to be ranked No.1 in the World in their respective weights.