Michael Conlan has an opponent for his long-awaited professional debut.
The London 2012 flyweight bronze medallist is set to make his first foray into the pro ranks in March, and will come up against American Tim Ibarra in his first outing, according to
Irish-boxing.com.
Ibarra holds a professional record of 4-4 which seems about right given the fact that Top Rank will not want to test Conlan too much too soon.
https://twitter.com/IrishBoxinNews/status/821354092626931712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Ibarra has one knockout victory to his name, which came last August, but is coming off a unanimous decision defeat.
Interestingly Conlan is actually training under the father of a former opponent of Ibarra as the Belfast boxer is spending his time in Manny Robles'
The Rock gym in Los Angeles.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/800293042527866880
Conlan lost his patience with the amateur scene last year, when his famous anti-AIBA tirade followed a shock decision that eliminated him at the quarter-final stage of Rio 2016.
The 25-year-old will debut in Madison Square Garden on St. Patrick's Day, when he will be joined by fellow former Team Ireland representative Paddy Barnes on the card.
Barnes made his professional debut last November in a fight that ended in rather bizarre circumstances as his opponent, Stefan Slavchev, was
disqualified after a series of fouls.
https://twitter.com/paddyb_ireland/status/788744510251687938?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The Irish action doesn't end on March 17 as the very next night will likely see Katie Taylor take to the ring yet again as she's scheduled to compete on the undercard of Gennady Golovin vs. Danny Jacobs on March 18 in New York City.
The Taylor fight has yet to be officially signed off on but
promoter Eddie Hearn has suggested that it's in the pipeline.
