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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Gareth Fullerton

Michael Conlan dreaming of fairytale fight in New York this Christmas

Michael Conlan is dreaming of fighting in New York at Christmas time in what he says would be a 'winter wonderland' scenario.

The Belfast featherweight hopes to return before the end of the year after cruising past Miguel Marriaga in Belfast on Saturday night.

With the win, Conlan pushes himself back into World Championship contention having come so close to achieving his lifelong dream earlier this year. Back in March, Conlan was just 90 seconds away from being crowned World Champion, before a devastating Leigh Wood knockout sent the Belfast boxer tumbling through the ropes.

Read more: Michael Conlan says he 'exorcised some demons' with Miguel Marriaga win

A rematch with Wood is still firmly on the 30-year olds mind. With that being said, the Falls Road boxer says he will sit down with his team to examine all options, with a possible festive bout at Madison Square Garden in the pipeline.

"Wouldn't it be a dream. A dream," Conlan said.

"A winter wonderland. We will go back and speak to Top Rank and see what the plans are.

"If the Leigh Wood fight can be done then great. I know Eddie Hearn reached out to Top Rank earlier in the year about doing it in the winter.

"But Leigh has his own situation now and you can't blame him for that. Whatever happens will happen."

On Saturday night Conlan once again showed his class when he dropped Marriaga three times on the way to a comfortable decision win. Backed on by a raucous crowd of over 9,000 people at the SSE Arena, Conlan believes he showed his maturity by putting in a controlled performance against his Colombian opponent.

"The crowd was unbelievable. That was my first experience of the full arena because when I last fought here it was half," he added.

"It was like a cauldron. But when you watch it back, I didn't let the crowd get to me. I was calm and blanked it all out.

"In the Wood fight, I was fired up big time and going crazy. And that was inexperience.

"It was the English-Irish thing as well, going to war and all that. And I had people shouting 'f*** you' as I walked to the ring. I loved it.

"But now I have experienced that I can control it a lot more."

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