Michael Conlan was viciously stopped in the fifth round by Luis Alberto Lopez during his second effort at a world title in Belfast on Saturday night.
The Irishman packed out his hometown SSE Arena, with around 10,000 crammed into the famed venue. Even veteran promoter Bob Arum, who has allowed Conlan's older brother Jamie to run his career for the most part of late, was in attendance at ringside at the age of 91 alongside Frank Warren's son George.
An early ring walk time of 9pm was delayed by almost an hour for the main event, despite last weekend's Katie Taylor vs Chantelle Cameron fight in Dublin began closer to 10.30pm much to Irish fans' annoyance. But the crowd were in full voice for Conlan as he made his way between the ropes, belting out the well-known Irish anthem 'Grace', before showering him in 'Olé' chants.
Conlan began with his patented movement, working the body early while wearing a few of the champion's big shots in the opening exchanges. And after displaying his power more than usual over recent showings, the Irishman allowed himself to sit down on his shots towards the beginning of the bout, much to the delight of his home crowd.
He emerged from the corner early for the second and immediately got back to work, allowing himself to feel the Mexican's power in an effort to get in with his own big shots. He stiffened Lopez's legs with one big right hand, but took some return fire for his trouble just moments later.
The third saw Lopez come into his own, throwing bombs down the pipe and walking Conlan back on to the ropes. And halfway through the round a solid left hand stumbled the hometown hero back, almost allowing his rival to move in for a finish that would have devastated the crowd.
But as if buoyed by the 10,000 home supporters cheering on his every step, Conlan survived the onslaught and made it to the corner, where he regrouped ahead of an heavy fourth round. He appeared to have Lopez hurt to the body as the round progressed, but was unable to immediately make the damage count as the pair headed into the fifth.
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Unfortunately, that was where it ended for the Irishman, who was quickly put down by Lopez with a right uppercut that had coach Adam Booth immediately throw in the towel. There was a brief skirmish in the ring immediately after the towel was thrown in, before Conlan eventually regained consciousness and headed to his corner.
It had been an exciting night for the Irish, with a slew of home victories early in the day for the likes of Conor McGregor teammate Willo Hayden and Olympian Kurt Walker. The standout of the undercard was a stunning knockout within the first round for Dublin's Pierce O'Leary over Alin Florin Ciorceri, as well as a dominant IBO super-featherweight title defence for Anthony Cacace Damian Wrzesinski.
But the co-main event ended in scary fashion, with Nick Ball stopping Ludumo Lamati in round 12 when the corner threw in the towel after a brutal beating. Lamati was forced to leave on a stretcher, and was visibly twitching underneath his blanket as he was taken from the ring by medics.
