Michael Conlan headlined the annual St. Patrick’s Day bout at the Theater in Madison Square Garden, taking on versatile super bantamweight Tim Ibarra in a bout scheduled for 6 rounds. Conlan, from Belfast, Northern Ireland, had all the pressure from the sold-out 5,102 in attendance to deliver on this special day and took his time to get settled in. The opening round had Conlan struggling to find his jab and reach as he was constantly missing on his hooks however Ibarra had the look of a man who was in over his head and never found himself in the fight.
Conlan with his confidence rising as each round went by, started to let his hands go and closed the distance, leading to a series of devastating power shots to the body and head of Ibarra. Once it became too much, the referee was forced to intervene and put an end to the helpless Ibarra at 0:59 of round 3. Conlan picks up his first win and TKO as a professional boxer and made it seem all too easy in the end, his record now 1-0, 1 KO. Ibarra however moves to 4-5, 1 KO.
