UK Boxing
Michael Conlan vs. Kevin Walsh – results and post-fight report
Kevin Walsh pulled off a huge upset at the SSE Arena in Belfast by taking the WBC International featherweight title from Michael Conlan, becoming the modern champion after a uninteresting split decision.
Conlan was defeated in his hometown by Walsh, who entered the competition as an underdog.
In the past, he was twice a contender for the world titleConlan (20-4, KO10) considered retirement following defeats to Luis Alberto Lopez and Jordan Gill in 2023, but returned to the ring in March last year before taking over the vacant WBC International belt in September last year, stopping Jack Bateson in four rounds in Dublin.
Walsh (20-0, KO10) arrived in Belfast undefeated but unproven, going the distance of ten rounds only once in a split decision win over Tramaine Williams last May.
Walsh was last eliminated in November 2025, scoring over eight points against Jose Nunez Sosa.
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It was a very cautious first round with neither wanting to commit, and Walsh overshadowed things with a nice left hook right at the end of the frame.
Conlan was cut off from a clash of heads at the same moment, and blood poured from his forehead the second moment, and the two began to exchange forces wildly towards the end of the round. Walsh had a better start, but Conlan changed his style to good in the third game and improved slightly in the fourth.
It was a fight with little action of note, with Walsh struggling to find the right angles to make an impact, allowing Conlan to keep his man at bay and the American’s frustration mounting.
Conlan worked the body well in round eight and was ecstatic to exploit his moves to stay out of trouble as the fight ended in a scoreless draw.
Walsh went bust early in the final frame, landing several right hands, but Conlan again moved from safety to land the final buzzer.
Two scores of 96-94 were enough for Walsh to win the title, with the third judge giving Conlan a score of 97-93. The rounds were challenging to come by, but many felt that Conlan had done enough to get the victory, but his career was in ruins.
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Kieran Molloy defeated Xavier Kohlen
On the card below, Kieran Molloy (14-0, KO7) won the vacant IBF European welterweight title, defeating Xavier Kohlen (15-3-1, KO7) by a huge margin.
Molloy edged the winner by scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92.
Undercard remaining
Niall Brown (18-0, KO7) reached the ten round mark for the first time in his history and the super middleweight impressed to defeat Celtic champion Darren Johnstone (12-2, KO3) in three rounds.
In eight-round action, Ben Marksby (14-0, KO3) picked up just his third early victory as the County Durham resident forced Carlos Daniel Cordoba (16-14-1, KO4) to withdraw after four rounds of action in the super lightweight fight. Super featherweight prospect Codie Smith (9-0-1, KO1) also remained undefeated, picking up his first win back from the break, stopping Lee Gormley (6-3, KO1) in the first frame of the fight, with Gormely losing three times before the end.
In a six-round fight, Jak Corrie (9-0, KO6) knocked out Jacob Quinn (8-8-1, KO0) in two rounds in the super welterweight division.
In four-round fights, Kurt Walker (13-1, KO2) returned to action after his last loss to Liam Davies, and the Lisburn lightweight fighter scored a points victory over Yahir Alexander Solorio Morales (6-22-5, KO2). In the super welterweight division, Kyle Smith (4-0, KO1) defeated Eduardo Vera Sanchez (2-18-2, KO0).
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Dillian Whyte is eager to fight Joseph Parker again.
In 2018, Whyte and Parker played 12 invigorating rounds, with both hitting the canvas.
Whyte won his dramatic heavyweight fight by unanimous decision at the O2 Arena.
‘The Body Snatcher’ is now planning a rematch with the Recent Zealander, who is looking to clear his name after testing positive for cocaine following his October defeat to Fabio Wardley.
“There are a lot of good fights and Joseph Parker is one of them,” the 38-year-old said Ring Magazine.
“I would love to fight Joseph Parker, I think it’s a really good fight.
“He has to come back, he has to be cleared or whatever. I don’t know the situation.
“So in the meantime I have to stay busy and fight my way back, so let’s see.
“I feel like I still have a little bit to give, so let’s see what we can do to finish the season on a high.
“I’m training now and I want to come back in May or June.
“Now it’s just a matter of training and seeing what comes out on this kind of date.”
The former world title challenger from Brixton has not fought since a crushing first-round knockout defeat to rising contender Moses Itauma last August in Riyad.
Former world champion Parker won six times on spin before being stopped in the 11th round against Wardley, losing the WBO interim title and a shot at unified champion Oleksandr Usyk.
The 34-year-old says he is going through this process after failing the test and hopes it will be resolved soon.
“Let’s hope so [I’m back] soon,” Parker said Professional boxing fans.
“I’m just going through the process and practicing patience.
“We just have to be patient and learn from what they say happened.
“I know what happened and I handed over everything, so let’s see.”
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Tony Yoka has broken his silence on Lawrence Okolie’s failed test that canceled their scheduled heavyweight fight.
On Saturday in Paris, Yoka was scheduled to face Okolie in a fierce heavyweight fight.
But on Tuesday, the Briton failed a VADA test, reportedly for GHRP 2 and its metabolite M8, a synthetic substance that stimulates the body to release human growth hormone.
Promoter Frank Warren tried to find a slow replacement, but later canceled the entire show.
Yoka (33) admits that he was bitterly disappointed with the situation.
“I was disappointed because I wanted to fight,” said the 33-year-old talkSPORT.
“Of course I was ready.
“It’s not like it happened a few months before, it was three, four days before the fight.
“It was a great opportunity.
“It would have put me in a really good position, so it really worried me.
“What was more disappointing to me was that they just canceled the entire show, but I understand it’s a business.”
The Frenchman says he won’t wait too long and has been told he will either fight on the card Fabio Wardley vs. Daniel Dubois May 9 in Manchester or on the bill Dave Allen vs Filip Hrgovic on May 16 in Doncaster.
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Okolie, the WBC’s number one contender for Oleksandr Usyk’s title, promised in a statement to clear his name.
“Before anyone starts imagining the worst, after last year’s bicep injury, I suffered an elbow injury on the same shoulder during this camp.
“I underwent treatment and now we are here.
“I hope common sense will prevail.
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“I will of course cooperate fully with all relevant authorities and I am confident that any investigation will clear my name.
“I will not be making any further comments at this time.
“Thank you for all your support and see you soon.”
The post “I Was Nervous” – Tony Yoka’s Reaction to Lawrence Okolie’s Failed Test appeared first on ProBoxing-Fans.com.
David Benavidez is already looking to the future ahead of next week’s showdown with Zurdo Ramirez.
Benavidez challenges Zurdo for his unified WBO and WBA cruiserweight world titles next Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, live on DAZN pay-per-view.
“The Mexican Monster” is moving up from lightweight heavyweight, where he holds the WBC crown, in a bid to become a three-division world champion.
An undisputed 175-pound title fight with Dmitry Bivol has so far eluded the undefeated 29-year-old, but he insists he will return to the weight class after the Ramirez fight in an attempt to lure Bivol to fight him.
“My plan wasn’t just to abandon the lightweight heavyweight division,” Benavidez said Ariel Helwani show.
“My plan was this [to] come up, win two titles, come back and make this fight with me and Bivol even bigger.
“My dream is to become unified champion.
“It would be wise for me to go back downstairs.”
Bivol, the holder of the remaining IBF, WBA and WBO belts, will defend his IBF title against mandatory challenger Michael Eifert on May 30 in Russia.
The 35-year-old won the undisputed crown, among others revenge victory over Artur Beterbiev in his last appearance last February.
The Russian gave up the WBC belt, which Benavidez currently holds, in pursuit of a third meeting with Beterbiev, which ultimately did not take place.
Benavidez, who stopped Anthony Yarde in Riyad in November, is also hoping to fight former undisputed lightweight heavyweight champion Beterbiev, who hasn’t fought since his only professional loss to Bivol.
“After this fight [against Bivol] when I win the titles,” he added.
“I’m going to fight Beterbiev.
“I’m probably most excited about Beterbiev.
“These are two monsters heading on a collision course.
“Beterbiev was a bogeyman for a long, long, long time.
“Being the monster I am, I have to go in there and get rid of the bogeyman.”
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