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Michael Conlan wins WBO super-bantamweight title with majority win over Ionut Baluta
Michael Conlan will return to the ring in New York on St Patrick's Day. Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank/Sportsfile
Michael Conlan has won the WBO international super-bantamweight title with a majority 2-0 win over Romanian native Ionut Baluta after a 12-round battle in London’s York Hall.
The victory extends the Belfast boxer’s unbeaten run to 15-0 but this was a rusty performance from the former World amateur champion who was fighting in this weight division for the first time since his professional debut in 2017.
The judges’ scorecards reflected the uneven nature of Conlan’s performance. While one ringside official scored the fight 117-112 for the winner, another official gave him the narrowest of victories 115-114 while the third official scored it a 114-114 draw.
Based in Madrid, Baluta was on a roll with victories over two Irish fighters, former World champion TJ Doheny and Olympian David Oliver Joyce in the last two fights.
He was calling himself the ‘Irish Slayer’ in the build to the contest and while Conlan inflicted a third pro defeat on Baluta the performance was less convincing.
The jury remains out on whether he can win a World title in this division. But at least the victory keeps momentum behind Conlan’s career.
In fairness to him it was his first fight since last August and in the interim he suffered a freak ankle injury in training which may have impacted on his confidence.
Baluta was a particularly awkward opponent but at least Conlan was spared the nightmare of a majority draw verdict and he will move on this with World title preparation and a possible clash against WBO title holder Stephen Fulton from the USA.
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