Conlan: I can shine in London

Irish flyweight Michael Conlan has already upheld Belfast’s proud boxing heritage by qualifying for the London Olympics but the 19-year old believes he is well capable of bringing home a medal.

Conlan qualified thanks to reaching the quarter-finals at the World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan last year, having kicked off the competition by defeating highly-rated Moldovan Alexander Riscan.

“It doesn’t bother me at all who the opponent is,” he said in Dublin: “The Moldovan was a two-time European bronze. I had sparred him in the training camp before and he was a lot better in the training camp than he was in the fight. It just could have been on the day he didn’tperform. I know now mixing it with the likes of Andrew Selby (in Baku) — he was a European gold medallist and I thought I beat him but I didn’t get the decision — that I’m up there at that level. The guy that won it, the Russian guy (Misha Aloyan), I’d say I could beat him.”