TRIPLE THREAT WEEKEND - CONLAN, MCCORMACK AND NUNEZ OUT TO MAKE HUGE STATEMENTS

After a busier than usual August, but still a relatively quiet month, boxing returns to its busy best this weekend — and we’ll be taking a look at not one, not two, but three cards in our weekend preview.

First off, we head to Dublin where the weekend’s action gets underway on Friday night with Mick Conlan facing Jack Bateson.

Arguably one of the best active boxers never to have won a world title, Mick Conlan’s career has been an intriguing one to say the least.

After going unbeaten in his first 16 fights, he suffered a shock 12th-round stoppage defeat to Leigh Wood when he was literally seconds away from victory.

He bounced back impressively with wins against Miguel Marriaga and Karim Guerfi before suffering back-to-back losses at the hands of Luis Alberto Lopez and Jordan Gill.

The Northern Irishman returned to winning ways in his last fight against the tough Asad Asif Ali, and he’ll be hoping to add another win to his résumé on Friday night against Leeds’ Jack Bateson.

Similar to Conlan, Bateson was a highly successful amateur, earning wins over the likes of Lee McGregor in the unpaid ranks before turning professional in 2017.

He went on to win the English Super-Bantamweight Title at the end of 2021 before suffering the first loss of his career against Shabaz Masoud a year later.

He’s unbeaten since then; however, in his last fight a head clash between himself and Danny Quartermaine saw their bout end in a technical draw due to cuts sustained by both fighters.

So, to the actual fight itself — and it really is a tricky one to call.

Despite having had the same number of fights, you’d certainly say Bateson is the fresher of the two.

Conlan has boxed at a much higher level and gained far more experience in longer fights, with the Northern Irishman having boxed, or been scheduled to box, in three times the number of 10- or 12-rounders as Bateson.

After his back-to-back defeats to Lopez and Gill, Conlan has moved to Sheffield to team up with the impressive Grant Smith at the Steel City Gym — a move that will no doubt have aided him.

It very much comes down to what Mick has left in the tank. If he is back to his best, it’ll be a really hard night at the office for Bateson.

If he continues to show signs of decline, Bateson has more than enough ability to add insult to injury and get the win.

Neither are known for their punch power, so expect a technical masterclass from both fighters — one that will certainly get the purists frothing at the mouth.

To Tyne and Wear on Saturday night now, where Olympic silver medallist Pat McCormack will be aiming to continue his unbeaten start in the paid ranks against Mexican Miguel Parra.

With five stoppages from seven wins so far, he’s slowly starting to live up to the potential he showed throughout his amateur career.

He picked apart Robbie Davies Jr in his last fight, in arguably his best performance to date, and he’ll be hoping for more of the same on Saturday night.

Parra will likely prove to be the toughest test of his career to date. Despite having five losses on his résumé, he’s only ever really lost to solid opposition such as Roiman Villa, Florian Marku, and more recently edged out by split decision against Ring Magazine’s number-five welterweight in the world, Shakhram Giyasov. Despite the defeat, he’s proven that he belongs at world level.

McCormack is going to have to be patient — very patient. Parra’s last stoppage defeat came against Roiman Villa nearly four years ago, so the Englishman can’t afford to be trigger-happy and try to get him out of there early.

He’ll need to bide his time and pick him off. Parra is there to be hit and he’s certainly there to be outboxed, but he carries solid power too — so if McCormack gets lazy, the Mexican has enough ability to punish him.

McCormack should have enough quality to get past Parra, but the Mexican cannot be overlooked at any stage of the fight.

On the undercard is a cracking local derby for the English 168lbs title as Mark Dickinson faces off with Troy Williamson.

Dickinson put in a career-best performance last time out to beat Reece Farnhill and claim the title, whilst Williamson suffered his third straight loss in a late-notice bout against American Jahi Tucker.

Williamson has the greater experience at a higher level, but Dickinson is a man full of momentum — and he should be tricky to beat here.

If that wasn’t enough, before the main and co-main some of the future stars of British boxing will feature, with the likes of Cameron Vuong, Tiah Mai Ayton, Leo Atang, Adam Maca and Bradley Casey also showcasing their skills, whilst Sandy Ryan will be looking to bounce back from her world title defeat against the undefeated Jade Grierson.

Now to the final show of the night, where we head to Mexico to witness one of the pound-for-pound biggest punchers on the planet — Eduardo ‘Sugar’ Núñez — who makes the first defence of his IBF World Super-Featherweight Title against 30-5 American Christopher Diaz.

With 29 wins and 28 stoppages, Núñez is nothing but pure box office with his fan-friendly style and high work rate.

He became world champion on away soil last time out against Japan’s Masanori Rikiishi, and now returns to Mexico with the world title around his shoulder to defend against the experienced Diaz.

A two-time world title challenger who’s lost to the likes of Masayuki Ito, Shakur Stevenson and Emanuel Navarrete, Diaz has been around the block since making his pro debut nearly 12 years ago.

He’ll ask questions of Núñez in terms of his toughness, but the Mexican’s work rate will more than likely be enough to see him make a successful first defence — and set up a mega-unification or even an undisputed clash.