Michael Conlan has the benefit of a familiar backdrop for his first fight at a higher weight.
The former two-time challenger appeared fighting fit at a career heaviest 129 ½ pounds for his junior lightweight debut. He will face England’s Jordan Gill, who followed Conlan up the scale from featherweight and was also 129 ½ pounds.
The two will meet in a scheduled twelve-round contest Saturday evening on DAZN from The SSE Arena in Conlan’s hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Matchroom Boxing will present the eight-fight card in association with Conlan Boxing.
Conlan (18-2, 9KOs) will fighting at the venue for his fourth straight time. The two-time Olympian and 2012 bronze medalist for Ireland rebounded from a 12th round knockout to then-WBA featherweight titlist Leigh Wood in their 2022 Fight of the Year-awarded clash last March with two straight wins at home. He outpointed Miguel Marriaga last August, four months before a blistering 1st round knockout of Karim Guerfi last December 10.
The two fights led to his second career title fight, which ended in a fifth-round knockout to IBF featherweight titlist Luis Alberto Lopez on May 27. Conlan decided to change weight divisions and trainers as he will enter the ring this Saturday under the tutelage of Pedro Diaz.
Gill (27-2-1, 8KOs) is also coming off a stoppage defeat as well as a lengthy layoff. The 29-year-old Brit was stopped in the fourth round by former two-division titlist Kiko Martinez last October 29 at OVO Arena Wembley in London. The letdown followed his thrilling and unexpected ninth-round knockout of Guerfi last February at The O2.
Main undercard, DAZN, 7:00 p.m. local time/2:00 p.m. ET
Tyrone McKenna (23-3-1, 6KOs), Belfast, 146.9 pounds vs. Lewis Crocker (17-0, 10KOs), Belfast, 147 pounds—10 rounds, welterweight
Caoimhin Agyarko (13-0, 7KOs), Belfast, 153.8 pounds vs. Troy Williamson (20-1-1, KOs), Darlington, County Durham, 154.2 pounds—10 rounds, junior middleweight
Sean McComb (17-1, 5KOs), Belfast, 139.1 pounds vs. Sam Maxwell (17-2, KOs), Liverpool, 139.6 pounds—10 rounds, junior welterweight
Cameron Vuong (2-0, 1KO), Blyth, Northumberland, 136.8 pounds vs. Michael Dufek (36-31-2, 23KOs), Prague, Czech Republic, 136.7 1pounds—6 rounds, lightweight
‘Before the Bell’ prelims, DAZN/Matchroom YouTube, 5:30 p.m. local time/12:30 p.m. ET
Emmanuel ‘Leli’ Buttigieg (pro debut), London, 159.4 pounds vs. Mario Oliveira (1-0, 0KOs), Famalicao, Portugal, 158.2 pounds—4 rounds, middleweight
Gerard Hughes (4-0, 0KOs), Ballycastle, N. Ireland, 124.1 pounds vs. Ruadhan Farrell (4-1, 2KOs), Belfast, 123.3 pounds—6 rounds, junior featherweight
Fearghus Quinn (8-0, 3KOs), Belfast, 161.6 pounds vs. Angel Emilov (11-53-3, 7KOs), Sofia, Bulgaria, 162.9 pounds—6 rounds, middleweight
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox