Michael Conlan vs Belmar Preciado Preview March 17th
Northern Ireland’s Michael Conlan is in action on St. Patrick’s Day in New York City this Tuesday, March 17th when he takes on Belmar Preciado of Colombia. The 10-round featherweight bout can be seen in the USA on ESPN+. The unbeaten Conlan last fought in December when he beat Vladimir Nikitin by a 10-round unanimous decision. Preciado was last in action in December as well when he stopped Jose de Jesus Lopez in the third round.
Conlan vs Preciado Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Belmar Preciado +750
- Michael Conlan -2000
My Pick
The 28-year-old Conlan of Belfast carries around a perfect record of 13-0 with 7 Kos. He enjoyed a fine amateur career as he participated in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and was a quarter finalist at the 2011 European Championships and 2011 World Amateur Championships. He won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and a silver medal at the 2013 European Championships. He reached the final eight of the 2013 World Amateur Championships.
He then won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and both the 2015 European Championships and World Amateur Championships before participating in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Conlan also fought in the World Series of Boxing from 2012 to 2015. As an amateur, Conlan lost to Andrew Selby three times as well as Jason Moloney, Robeisy Ramirez and Vladimir Nikitin (twice) and beat the likes of Khalid Yafai, Nordine Oubaali (twice), Jose Diaz and Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
Conlan turned pro back in 2017 and has 81 rounds of experience since. He stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 69-inch reach and has decent power with a current knockout ratio of 54 per cent. Since turning pro he’s captured the vacant WBO Inter-Continental, and vacant WBA Inter-Continental Featherweight Titles. Conlan has fine boxing skills and can also switch to southpaw at times and be just as effective.
He’s not the biggest puncher in the division and has gone the distance in three of his last four fights. Conlan’s still learning the ropes as a pro and hasn’t faced a top contender as of yet with his biggest wins coming over the likes of Kenny Guzman, David Berna, Jason Cunningham, Ruben Garcia Hernandez and Diego Alberto Ruiz. He then avenged his controversial amateur defeats to Nikitin in December.
As for Preciado, he’s a 31-year-old veteran who enters the ring with a mark of 20-2-1 with 13 Kos. He dropped an eight-round split decision to Mauricio Martinez in 2016 and was stopped by Hiroshige Osawa in December of 2018 and has won two fights by stoppage since. He halted Benito Garcia in the fourth round for the vacant WBC Fecarbox Super Bantamweight Title last April for his only pro belt and his lone draw was an eight-round affair with Hugo Berrio in 2014.
Preciado turned pro in in 2013 and has gone 113 rounds since. His power is comparable to Conlan’s with a current knockout ratio of 56.5 per cent. Unfortunately his height and reach are unlisted so we can’t compare him size-wise to Conlan. He hasn’t beaten any body of note and just 10 of his 23 opponents have entered the ring with winning records.
Prediction…
This is basically another unknown opponent to pad Conlan’s record and he should be able to earn a victory. However, sooner or later he’s going to have to start taking on some stiffer opposition if he hopes to land a world title shot in the near future.
Conlan should be too skillful and determined on St. Patrick’s Day.
Play: Conlan -2000 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Belmar Preciado betting • Michael Conlan betting