Michael Conlan’s replacement opponent has been named after Nikitin withdraws

Olympic bronze medalist Michael Conlan will fight Diego Alberto Ruiz at the west Belfast Féile in August.

Ruiz (21-2) will step in for the injured Vladimir Nikitin after the Russian withdrew from his scheduled bout with Conlan after suffing a torn bicep in training. Ruiz will now fill in for Nikitin on the August 3rd card which has been forced into a bit of a reshuffle after Anto Cacace's British title challenge was postponed after champion Sam Bowen withdrew from the Falls Park event with sciatica. https://twitter.com/BTSportBoxing/status/1146389422688079874 MTK Global Professional Development Coordinator and brother of Michael, Jamie Conlan, said last week before the fight announcement that they would be looking for an opponent that could potentially spring his sibling up the featherweight rankings should he emerge with victory.

“These things happen in boxing and we’ll now be looking to bring in an opponent that’ll be a harder fight than Nikitin would have been," Conlan said on the MTK website. “In some ways, Nikitin was a step back in terms of level and we all know it’s a match-up based on sentimentality. Instead, we’ll now seek a fight that will push Mick up the rankings quicker. It’ll be the hardest fight of his career."

Also fighting on the night will be the likes of Paddy Barnes, Sean McComb, Alfredo Meli vs. Araik Marutjan, Padraig McCrory, Callum Bradley, Seanie Duffy and Dee Sullivan.