Irish light heavyweight Conor Wallace faces off with Jack Gipp tomorrow in Fortitude Valley, Australia.
Originally from Newry, Northern Ireland, Wallace (12-1, 9 KOs) continues his career in the unlikely destination of Queensland. The 27 year old southpaw will headline the St Patrick’s Day event live on DAZN.
“St Patrick’s Day is always a good day for the Irish, which is perfect for me to put on a show,” Wallace said in an exclusive interview for boxingscene.com. “It’s mad, there are loads of Irish living and working here. There was a Gaelic football tournament here last week, there must have been around 10,000 people there.
“I’ve been here almost five and a half years. It was pretty easy to make the move, the weather is great and I love the sun. I really love it here, I gelled with the team, Fortitude Boxing, straight away. Everyone gets around you when you are fighting, it feels like home for me now. You just have to look at some of the crowds I’m bringing, it’s massive.”
Wallace has seen the entirety of his professional career take place in his newfound home on the other side of the world. He turned over in 2018 having won a national amateur championship.
“Stephen [Deller] hit me up as he had a connection with bringing through Irish fighters before,” Wallace explained. “It was actually through Patrick Hyland that it all happened. Steve called me one night when I was sat in the ice cream shop and asked if I would be interested in coming to Australia to turn professional. I thought it must be legit because I know Patrick really well.”
Wallace scored a sixth-round knockout victory over Mose Auimatagi Jnr last December, his next task is Gipp, an undefeated prospect from Mornington, Australia.
“He was really good as an amateur and he’s 7-0 as a pro,” Wallace continued. “On paper this is probably a big step up for him, but he had a tough amateur career. I’m definitely not underestimating him, I think it will be a great fight, but I definitely think I have the beating of him.”
A blemish appears on Wallace’s record that turns off many boxing fans in today’s age. However, despite a closely fought majority-decision loss to Leti Leti in 2021, he avenged that defeat with a knockout in the rematch and would go on to stop Man Sheehan inside a round eight months later.
“That was the first fight since my hand surgery on my left hand,” Wallace said. “It was a 50/50 fight too, it was kind of my breakout fight. It’s all well and good saying these things and doing it in the gym, but you have to produce under the bright lights. It was the first time I had both hands ready to go because I had surgery on my right hand before the first Leti Leti fight. With the Matt Sheehan fight, it was one of them where you say, ‘Wait until you see me fight with two hands’ but I had to actually go and f****** do it. Live on DAZN was the perfect platform.
“The first Leti Leti fight was close, but you can see that I wasn’t throwing my left hand at all. It was the one thing I always wanted to f****** get back. I ended up winning a couple of regional belts, by the time he offered me the rematch he had no belts, obviously I jumped at it. I had to get that win back, even though he wasn’t bringing anything to the table. I broke my hand in the second round of that fight, too, but I knocked him out in the sixth. It got a couple of Fight of the Year contenders and stuff.”
With two healed hands Wallace is now on a three-fight knockout streak as he embarks on 2024.
“Hopefully I can keep it going,” Wallace added. “This is my third headline on DAZN, it’s unreal. I’m seeing all the Irish wearing Wallace t-shirts, it is a good feeling. Jack is a slick boxer who starts fast, but my experience will be key. I just believe I am better than him in every department. It is going to take a lot to beat me on St Patrick’s Day.”