Michael Conlan beaten by Kevin Walsh via split decision

Michael Conlan was beaten on the scorecards again, and this time it came against an opponent brought in to steady things.

He lost a 10-round split decision to Kevin Walsh on Friday night at the SSE Arena in Belfast, with two judges scoring it 96-94 for Walsh and one seeing it 97-93 for Conlan. The crowd favored the home fighter, but the rounds stayed close throughout and never swung clearly in his direction.

Walsh accepted the fight as an opportunity and treated it that way. “It was a close fight, but I got it done. It’s my time,” he said afterward.

Conlan, now 34, entered the bout with a 2-2 record over his previous four fights, and the pattern of those outings showed again. He worked at a fast pace, using his jab and positioning, but spent long stretches without increasing his output. After taking right hands early and being marked up, he became more cautious and began looking to his corner between exchanges.

Walsh remained active. He pressed forward, threw in combination form, and kept the rounds competitive even when the punches were not always clean. The difference came from consistency. Conlan had the sharper moments, but they were brief and did not extend into control of the fight.

The final round looked much the same. The 33-year-old Walsh threw more and stayed on him, while Conlan picked his shots and didn’t do enough to separate himself. In a fight with narrow margins, that approach left room for the judges to favor the busier fighter.

The result adds another loss for Conlan following defeats to Leigh Wood, Luis Alberto Lopez, and Jordan Gill, all by stoppage. He has fought only three times in the past two and a half years, and this 10-round bout was intended as a step to rebuild, but left his position unchanged.