Michael Conlan sets Las Vegas debut

by BN Staff

THE Conlan Revolution has hit New York City, Australia, Arizona, Chicago, and Northern Ireland. Now, Michael Conlan is set to conquer the Las Vegas Strip. Conlan, the talk ofthe 2016 Summer Olympics, will take on Nicola Cipolletta (14-6-2, 4 KOs) in an eight-round featherweight bout Saturday, October 20 at Park Theater at Park MGM on the undercard of Ryota Murata’s WBA middleweight title defense against Rob Brant (10:30 p.m. ET).

Conlan vs. Cipolletta will be the featured attraction on the undercard broadcast, which will begin at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+ — the new multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment in conjunction with ESPN.

“It has always been a dream of mine to fight in Las Vegas, and that’s becoming a reality thanks to Top Rank,” Conlan said. “The Conlan Revolution is rolling into Sin City and ready to turn it green!”

Also appearing on the undercard will be Conlan’s Olympic nemesis, Vladimir Nikitin (1-0), who turned pro in July with a six-round decision victory against Edward Kakembo. Nikitin won a highly disputed decision over Conlan in the Olympic quarterfinals, sparking Conlan to lash out against the AIBA-appointed judges with his memorable middle finger salute. Nikitin will face Clay Burns (5-4-2, 0 KOs) in an eight-round featherweight contest.

As for Conlan (8-0, 5 KOs), he has been active since making his professional debut in front of a sold-out Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden crowd on St. Patrick’s Day in 2017. In his last bout, June 30 in his hometown of Belfast, he dominated former world title challenger Adeilson Dos Santos via eight-round decision. Cipolletta, from Naples, Italy, is a former Italian featherweight champion who is coming off a second-round TKO victory against Jozsef Ajtai.

The undercard broadcast will also include:

Top middleweight contender and 2012 Olympic silver medalist Esquiva Falcao (21-0, 15 KOs) will clash with Guido Pitto (25-5-2, 8 KOs) in a 10-rounder.

Fazliddin Gaibnazarov (5-0, 2 KOs), a 2016 Olympic gold medalist, will face Wilberth Lopez (23-9, 15 KOs) in an eight-round welterweight bout.

Joseph “Blessed Hands” Adorno (9-0, 9 KOs) will take on Kevin Cruz (8-0, 5 KOs) in a six-round lightweight fight. Adorno has seven first-round knockouts on his ledger.

In an eight-rounder, featherweight prospect Adam Lopez (10-1, 4 KOs) will fight Hector Ambriz (12-7-2, 6 KOs).

David Kaminsky (2-0, 1 KO) looks to make it three in a row against Noah LaCoste (2-0, 2 KOs) in a four-rounder at middleweight.