Photo by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
On Friday, March 17, 2017, an electric crowd packed the house for the St. Patrick’s Day card inside The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Fight fans, Irish lads and gals were ecstatic to welcome the professional debut of Ireland’s son, Michael Conlan.
In one of boxing’s most anticipated debuts since Oscar De La Hoya in 1992, Top Rank entertained The Theater fans with Irish Dancers.
The packed house of 5,102 was also treated to Conlan’s ring entrance, which was led by none other than UFC star and rumored Floyd Mayweather future foe, Conor McGregor.
Tim Ibarra (4-5, 1 KO) welcomed Conlan to the professional ranks for three rounds, while using his footwork to keep Conlan on the hunt for the knockout. Conlan and Ibarra exchanged jabs in Round 1, as they tested out the distance between each other.
Round 2 saw a little more success for Conlan as he was able to slow down the footwork of Ibarra and connect to the body and the head.
With the fans singing songs continuously, Conlan stepped on the gas and overwhelmed Ibarra with shots against the ropes.
While Ibarra tried to get back to using his feet, Conlan pressured him against the ropes. The referee waved off the fight 59 seconds into Round 3.
Conlan starts his professional career with a TKO victory.
Photo by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
In the co-main feature, Abel Sanchez’s prospect, Alex Saucedo (24-0, 15 KOs) remained undefeated with a brutal stoppage against Johnny Garcia (19-4-1, 11 KOs).
Saucedo displayed his power with short hooks and uppercuts that immediately affected Garcia.
After a barrage of punches, the referee stopped the bout at the 2:42 mark in Round 2.
ALEX SAUCEDO TKO HIGHLIGHTS:
Watch | Alex Saucedo scores a TKO in Round 2. #Boxing pic.twitter.com/MldQm5u1l5
— RoundByRoundBoxing (@RBRBoxing) March 18, 2017
