Blue-chip featherweight prospect Michael Conlan, the two-time Irish Olympian, has made a trainer change, but not because of any problem with former trainer Manny Robles. Rather, Conlan, who is now training with Adam Booth, made the switch, which he announced on Wednesday, for family reasons.
Conlan, who is from Belfast, Northern Ireland, relocated 13 months ago from Belfast to Marina Del Rey, California, with his fiancée, Shauna, and their toddler daughter so Conlan could train with Robles at his Southern California gym. But with a second child now on the way and no family support in Southern California, Conlan made the decision to train closer to home. He'll train with Booth in London and shuttle back and forth to Belfast.
"I have another baby on the way, so it is better for me and my family to be closer to home with me being active in my boxing career and being in camp basically all year round," Conlan told ESPN. "I felt it was smarter for us as a family to move to back to the U.K. to be closer to our families. It will be better and a lot more comfortable to have that helping hand from grandmothers and sisters. We need to have a better support team around us. In Los Angeles, it was just us, so I needed to move back for my family's sake."
Conlan said in no way did the change reflect poorly on Robles, who also trains fighters such as featherweight titlist Oscar Valdez and junior featherweight titlist Jessie Magdaleno.
"I felt I was doing great with Manny and I have to thank him for everything he's done for me," Conlan said. "He didn't do anything wrong. Always friends with him. He understood family is first and that's what I've done. No ill feelings. He's a great coach."
Booth is one of the top trainers in the United Kingdom. He spent years training former cruiserweight and heavyweight titlist David Haye. He currently counts unified bantamweight titlist Ryan Burnett, elite junior middleweight prospect Josh Kelly and former middleweight titlist Andy Lee in his stable.
"He doesn't have that big of a stable of guys so with Adam I know I will get that one-on-one time I need," Conlan said. "It's very intense training and very enjoyable." Conlan (5-0, 4 KOs), 26, won a bronze medal in the 2012 Olympics and then was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympics in highly controversial fashion. He will next fight on March 17 -- St. Patrick's Day -- at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York on Top Rank's ESPN card headlined by the vacant junior welterweight world title bout between Jose Ramirez and Amir Imam.
Conlan sold out the arena on St. Patrick's Day in 2017 for his pro debut, when he was walked to the ring by pal Conor McGregor, the UFC superstar.
Conlan has been training with Booth for the past several weeks after moving back to the U.K. following his victory on Dec. 9 in New York.
"Adam is one of the best coaches in the world," Conlan said. "I think his coaching style fits my boxing style."
As happy as Top Rank executives were that Conlan had decided to train in the United States when he turned pro, they are supportive of his decision to move back home.
"Michael was open with us and he said he needed to make the change mainly for family reasons," Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti said, noting that Top Rank plans to put on a Conlan fight in Belfast this year. "He's working with a top professional trainer in Adam Booth, so you can't fault him. All respect to Manny Robles. He did a great job. It was a family thing that Michael had to take care of."