Jamie Conlan tells FightstorePROi: “Growing up I liked Arturo Gatti, every fight was exciting”
Jamie ‘The Mexican’ Conlan spoke with FightstorePROi this morning from his hotel and the Belfast man is ready for an “explosive” display over Adrian Dimas Garzon.
Following his war with Junior Granados it was no surprise when Conlan said that growing up he looked up to Arturo Gatti, the ultimate warrior.
After his fight on Saturday, what’s the first emotion that will arise for Conlan?
“The first thing after a fight is relief, no matter the result. People don’t realise that,” Conlan said.
“It’s not like football players, its 12 weeks of stress preparing. You can’t eat certain foods and you’re not living a normal life.
“We have one night to perform and look good whereas footballers have every week to impress. It doesn’t matter if we look good for 12 weeks, you’re only judged on that one night.”
Conlan told FightstorePROi that he was disappointed with his last outing but said his reputation was boosted because of it.
“I was down about the performance initially. It was below par but when I noticed the publicity, I learned I had to go through it to become a bigger name,” added Conlan.
With the fight only a day away Conlan gave some insight into how he spends his time with the bout being so close.
“I don’t even speak about boxing. My brother will come down now and we won’t even talk ten minutes about boxing. I will take it easy, watch tv and walk.
“I don’t even really speak about boxing when I get into the dressing room. There’s no point wasting nervous energy.”
Referring to his remarkable fitness in his previous contest, Conlan said: “I’ve always had stamina but at MGM it’s a different level, especially strength and conditioning. I’ve learnt so much about nutrition.”
The morning of his battle with Junior Granados, Conlan couldn’t get full and ended up over eating. He is sure that it will be a different story tomorrow.
“My conditioning coach stayed in Marbella but he’s here now and has everything prepared. Last time, I’ve never done it before, but I had porridge, then a full Irish and another porridge.
“Then I brought the croissants with the chocolate in them up to my room. I couldn’t move for the rest of the day. I don’t know why I did it, I just couldn’t get full.”
The undefeated Conlan, who is the WBO Intercontinental super-flyweight champion, believes 2016 will be the year he wins a world title.
He also said that he doesn’t care that his English rival Paul Butler will be doing commentary and revealed that he has no interest in hearing what Butler says on the night.
You can watch Jamie Conlan’s latest pro fight live on BoxNation on Saturday night.