Michael Conlan breathed new life into his career at 3Arena in Dublin, headlining in the capital for the first time in his career as he faced Leeds’ Jack Bateson.
Conlan (20-3, KO10) was halted in five by Luis Alberto Lopez in Belfast in a bid for the IBF world title in 2023, and he would be stopped again in his next contest, a seventh-round reverse against Jordan Gill in December of the same year.
He returned in March in a points win over eight against Asad Asif Khan in Brighton.
Leeds’ Bateson (20-2-1, KO6) was frustrated in his last bout in December last year, as his challenge for Danny Quartermaine’s IBF and WBO European titles ended early as both were ruled out from a head clash during the second round.
Conlan began brightly, and quickly controlled the distance in the opening couple of rounds, landing well with his right hand and with left hooks to the body as Bateson struggled to make his mark.
The third saw Bateson on the deck, as a counter right hand had the Yorkshireman over, albeit a flash knockdown.
With Bateson needing to show more urgency, Conlan landed a superb looping right hand in round four that had his co-challenger down heavily.
As Bateson tried to regain his feet, it looked like his ankle had been injured in the fall, and the referee waved the bout off to catapult Conlan back into the mix with the likes of Josh Warrington and a Leigh Wood rematch.
Charlie Edwards vs Salvador Juarez
The undercard saw former WBC flyweight champion Charlie Edwards (21-2, KO7) take the vacant WBC International super flyweight title, as he took a points win over ten rounds against Salvador Juarez (20-9-2, KO4).
Two scores of 99-91 and a third at 96-94 ensured that Edwards went home with the belt.
Remaining Undercard
At super lightweight, Ben Marksby (13-0, KO2) was also a points winner as he went the ten round distance for the first time, taking victory over fellow unbeaten Senan Kelly (10-1, KO2). Marksby was adjudged a 97-95 victor.
In eight round bouts at super welterweight, Dan Toward (7-1, KO5) came through 79-74 on the referee’s card against Khalid Ennachat (8-3, KO2), while Dean Walsh (4-0, KO1) was a 79-73 winner against Jamil Elo (4-3-1, KO2) of Finland.
In six round attractions, Kieran Molloy (21-0, KO6) took victory via third-round stoppage at welterweight against Nourdeen Toure (12-5, KO6), and Kevin Cronin (10-3-1, KO5) took a 59-55 verdict to get the win against Grant Dennis (19-15, KO3) at super middleweight.
Glenn Byrne (6-0-1, KO1) won 58-56 in his super welterweight encounter with Jacob Quinn (8-7-1, KO0).
Super featherweight prospect Codie Smith (7-0-1, KO0) won all six rounds against Mario Victorino Vera (8-7, KO3), and at super bantamweight, Paul Loonam (5-0, KO0) was also a winner over the distance against Jake Pollard (1-94, KO0).
In four-rounders, Cain Lewis (9-0-1, KO2) won on points against Erick Omar Lopez (17-30-3, KO10) at featherweight, and cruiserweight debutant Kian Hedderman (1-0, KO1) was a stoppage winner in round two against Alexandru Crasnitchii (5-9-1, KO2).
