Mick Conlan Losses By SD To Kevin Walsh, Announces Retirement

Not long ago, Michael Conlan ranked among Ireland's best featherweights. On Friday night at SSE Arena, Belfast, that narrative ended. Conlan lost his WBC International featherweight title on a split decision to American Kevin Walsh and then announced his retirement at age 34. The crowd left in near silence.

The scorecards told a story that many at ringside found uncomfortable to read. Two judges gave the 10-round contest to Walsh by 96-94, with the third marking it 97-93 in Conlan's favour. A split verdict, then, and one that provoked immediate controversy in the building, the Belfast faithful making their unhappiness audible from the moment the announcement came. But unhappiness and injustice are not always the same thing, and those who watched the rounds accumulate with the dispassion required of a judge would have found the outcome difficult to argue against with any great conviction.

Walsh, the 33-year-old from Brockton, Massachusetts, arrived in Belfast unbeaten across 19 professional contests, though his resume carried the asterisk of limited opposition. He had completed the 10-round distance only once before, taking a split decision win against Tramaine Williams last May. None of that, however, gave him reason for self-doubt. During the various pre-fight engagements, he carried himself with the easy confidence of a man who has yet to be educated by adversity. At Thursday's weigh-in, he had leaned into Conlan's face and announced, with a grin and no shortage of theatre, that this was his last dance. Conlan had invited him to enjoy the show. As declarations of intent go, Walsh's proved the more accurate of the two.

The first round was tentative, with both men hesitant to open up. Walsh broke through late in the round, landing a hard left hook to Conlan's chin, a key moment that reminded observers of Conlan's questionable durability. Soon after, a clash of heads opened a cut on Conlan's hairline. Blood from his forehead became a factor in the second round, as a wild exchange between them added confusion to the scoring and heightened the sense of uncertainty.

As the bout progressed, the cuts on Conlan's face worsened, especially after he began bleeding from above his right eye in the eighth. Despite a few clean punches being landed by either fighter, Conlan's visible injuries by the final rounds underscored how much even minor clashes were affecting him.

Conlan took the centre of the ring but struggled to find his range or land regularly. Walsh seemed lost whenever Conlan switched southpaw, but upped his output whenever the home favourite switched back to orthodox. That tactical cat-and-mouse produced a fight that was rarely compelling to watch, the crowd growing restless as round after round passed without the decisive moment they had come to see. Conlan pawed with his jab, controlled the tempo and stayed defensively aware, but seemed wary of letting his hands go, the hesitancy of a man who has been hurt before and cannot fully suppress the memory.

Walsh grew frustrated as the middle rounds yielded few openings, at times showing his irritation. In the seventh, after a rare exchange with no clean shots, Walsh lashed out with a leg kick in frustration—a lapse that had no consequence but symbolised the drifting contest.

In the final round, Walsh increased his aggression, initiating more exchanges to sway the judges. Conlan, in contrast, remained cautious and mostly relied on positioning, avoiding high activity. This final display of passivity, in such a close match, may have influenced the scorecards. While many spectators believed Conlan deserved the win, the judges disagreed and gave it to Walsh.

For Belfast, the night grew bleaker. Conlan quickly confirmed his retirement: "It's the end of the road for me. I said the next defeat, no matter the situation, no matter the circumstances, that would be me finishing boxing. And it has come. I didn't think I lost, but it wasn't good enough. And that's a simple fact. Thirty-four, probably too long in the tooth."

Conlan’s career deserves warmer memories than this fight. A 2016 Olympic bronze medallist who was denied gold in Rio by a contentious decision, he turned professional with much attention. He twice fell short at the world level, then was stopped by Jordan Gill at home in what should have been a rebuilding fight. He rebounded to stop Jack Bateson and win the WBC International title last September. But those wins masked vulnerabilities that Walsh exposed without fanfare.

Walsh, for his part, wasted no time in setting his sights higher. "Shu-Shu, where are you, baby?" he called out, referencing New York's WBC featherweight champion Bruce Carrington. "Let's go. Give me my shot, baby. Come on. You're a hell of a fighter, but it's my turn, baby." Whether Carrington will be remotely interested in the man who outpointed Conlan in Belfast is another matter entirely, but on this evidence, Walsh is at least ready for the question.

The co-feature provided a rather more satisfying viewing experience. Kieran Molloy boxed his way to a clear unanimous decision victory over Xavier Kohlen to claim the vacant IBF European welterweight title. The unbeaten Irishman always held the upper hand, but the stubborn Dutchman refused to go away. The scores were 99-91, 100-90, and 98-92. Super-middleweight Niall Brown, stepping up to the 10-round level for the first time, impressed by stopping Celtic champion Darren Johnstone in three rounds, improving his record to 18 wins without defeat in the process.

But the night was about endings, and the SSE Arena felt it. Michael Conlan gave Belfast boxing some of its finest nights. He deserved a better farewell.