The thrill looked to be gone for Jordan “The Thrill” Gill after a pair of tough stoppage losses, but the British contender revived his career Saturday with an upset TKO win over Michael Conlan. The 29-year-old Gill (28-2-1, 8 KOs) battered the 6-1 favorite Conlan (18-3, 9 KOs) along the ropes in round 7, forcing […]
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The thrill looked to be gone for Jordan “The Thrill” Gill after a pair of tough stoppage losses, but the British contender revived his career Saturday with an upset TKO win over Michael Conlan.
The 29-year-old Gill (28-2-1, 8 KOs) battered the 6-1 favorite Conlan (18-3, 9 KOs) along the ropes in round 7, forcing referee Howard Foster to call a halt to the bout at the 1:09 mark at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
For the two-time Irish Olympian Conlan, the loss was his third in the past two years, suggesting that he could be on the back end of his career at age 32. The win revitalizes Gill’s career after he was derailed in his last bout 14 months ago, when he was pummeled in four rounds by Kiko Martinez for the European featherweight title.
The win marks a stunning turnaround for Gill, who revealed afterwards that he went through significant personal and professional turmoil following the loss to Martinez. Gill told the crowd that he had split with his wife and was planning to kill himself this past summer, but now is planning to open his own gym next week.
“Not many people know what I’ve been through this year. After the Kiko loss I sort of lost touch with myself,” said Gill of Chatteris, England.
What a performance @_JordanGill
#ConlanGill pic.twitter.com/UzZHmTbWQN
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) December 2, 2023
From the start, Conlan didn’t seem to take the punches well from Gill. He was dropped in round two by a straight left following a right hand from Gill, and was wobbled again the following round from right hands. Conlan, whose pugnacious attitude made him a fan favorite as an amateur and professional, showed there was no quit in him in round 4, battling back from both stances, digging both shots to both sides to look for a fight-turning shot upstairs. Conlan began to break through in the sixth round, finding the gap with uppercuts between the guard and finishing up to the body to sap some of the steam out of Gill.
That turn of momentum turned out to be brief as Gill stunned Conlan with a straight left once more in the seventh. A pair of right hands behind the ear caused Conlan’s legs to buckle, leading to the stoppage.
The Belfast native had previously only lost in title fights, suffering a twelfth round stoppage to Leigh Wood in 2022 for he WBA featherweight belt, and then being stopped in five by Luis Alberto Lopez for the IBF featherweight title in his most recent bout in May.
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