Michael Conlan Walks Over Karim Guerfi In One Round
Former WBA Regular featherweight title challenger Michael “Mick” Conlan’s (18-1, 9KO) road back to a title shot continued against Karim Guerfi (31-7, 9KO) at The SSE Arena.
Despite being a veteran of the sport, the 35-year-old Guerfi has come up short whenever stepping up the level of competition. Never having fought for a world title, the Frenchman had success on the domestic level winning the EBU European title as a bantamweight and featherweight. In his last outing, he defeated unknown Ricardo Mercado on July 1.
Conlan has been picking up the pieces since that devastating knockout loss in the last round against WBA ‘regular’ champion Leigh Wood on March 12. It also marked the first blemish on his record, and he is out for revenge. In his last outing, he got back into the win column with an impressive performance against two-divisional title challenger Miguel Marriaga on August 6. This bout marks the third time he has fought this year.
STATEMENT MADE BY CONLAN
The ring walk and fighter’s introduction lasted longer than the actual fight as Conlan came out on a mission. The one-time title challenger showed the difference in skill as he landed jabs and left hooks while avoiding a return.
Then just like that, Conlan landed a hard body shot and a straight left hand on the top of the head that hurt Guerfi. He went on an all-out assault before finally dropping the Frenchman to the canvas. Despite getting up, Guerfi was on wobbly legs, forcing the referee to call for the stoppage in the first round.
Conlan needed a win of this magnitude to prove that he has indeed recovered from that brutal knockout by Wood. In the post-fight interview, he expressed wanting to fight any of the champions in the division.
By: Bo Bland
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