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Boxing

11th May 2016

VIDEO: Michael Conlan warming up for Rio Olympics with bout of ferocious sparring with top Cuban

Conan Doherty

This man is ready.

Michael Conlan is going for gold and he’s making no bones about it.

The Belfast boxer is gearing up for an extended tournament at the the Rio Olympics and he has the entire country behind him.

Wednesday night’s RTÉ show, Road to Rio, will give a behind-the-scenes look at the preparation that goes into being an Olympian. But there are Olympians and then there’s Michael Conlan. The latter is training like a man possessed.

Conlan won’t be watching himself on the tele on Wednesday evening. He’ll be fightng in the National Stadium against an opponent from Kazakhstan at the same time during an exhibition bout. He has an Olympics to win after all.

And the clip of him sparring with Cuban boxer Marcus Forstall is frightening. There’s sparring and then there’s sparring with Michael Conlan.

Click snap

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