As far as professional debuts are concerned, Irish featherweight Michael Conlan will take part in a special one on Friday. This won’t be a six-round boxing match as much as a celebration, announcing Conlan as quite possibly the next great draw in the sport of boxing.  

“I expect it to be something boxing hasn’t seen in a very long time,” Conlan told CBS Sports on Tuesday. “Just crazy, crazy noise and crazy fans. Dedicated fans who know boxing and will travel the world following me.” 

Conlan, a 25-year-old amateur star and bronze medalist at the 2012 London Olympics, estimates he will have over 2,000 fans make the trip from overseas. The Belfast native headlines a UniMas card (11 p.m. ET) against Tim Ibarra (4-4, 1 KO) at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. 

Top Rank, which signed Conlan to a multiyear deal one month after his controversial exit from the 2016 Rio Olympics, has pulled out all the stops to make his much-anticipated debut feel special.  

An Irishman headlining a fight card in New York on St. Patrick’s Day? Check. With the biggest star in combat sports, UFC champion Conor McGregor, walking his close friend Conlan to the ring? Well, now you are talking about a cultural event. 

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Michael Conlan hopes to take New York by storm on Friday. Mikey Williams / Top Rank

To many, this is the most hyped pro debut since Oscar De La Hoya in 1992, fresh off his gold medal-winning performance at the Seoul Olympics. That should make sense considering the promoter of “The Golden Boy” some 25 years ago was Bob Arum of Top Rank.  

“It’s something I asked for and thought about since I was born,” Conlan said about making a splash with his pro debut. “I expect big things of myself and to date it’s matching my imagination of what I thought since I was a boy. If [Top Rank] can promote it like a world championship fight for my first time, it’s fantastic.” 

Conlan had all the tools to be a star from the beginning and followed up his medal-winning performance for Ireland at flyweight in the 2012 Olympics by winning gold at the 2015 World Amateur Championships at bantamweight. But if his name, or possibly his middle fingers, seem familiar in any way from last summer’s Olympic Games, you aren’t mistaken.  

In a series of moves that made international headlines (and likely made his “Notorious” friend McGregor proud), Conlan acted out following a controversial loss to fellow bantamweight Vladimir Nikitin of Russia in the Olympic quarterfinals. It was a fight so seemingly one-sided in Conlan’s favor that Nikitin was too damaged to fight in the semifinals and withdrew from the tournament. 

After hearing the scores, Conlan gave double middle fingers to the judges at ringside and went on to accuse them of outright corruption in a subsequent interview with Ireland’s RTE, saying, “They’re f---ing cheats. It’s as simple as that.”  

Conlan then took to social media and attacked Russian president Vladimir Putin, asking how much he paid off the judges in Nikitin’s favor. The tweet instantly went viral, receiving over 18,000 retweets and 44,000 likes to date.  

Conlan continued to cause drama when he was reprimanded by the International Olympic Committee for betting on boxing matches during the Olympics.  

While Top Rank had been interested in Conlan before the fighter’s gold medal dreams blew up in such disastrous fashion, the attention the fighter received in the aftermath only increased his marketing potential.   

Arum, 85, celebrated Conlan’s signing last September by tweeting a picture of himself and Conlan flipping off the camera with the words, “Amateur hour is over.”  

As far as Conlan is concerned, he wasn’t playing a character in Rio. This wasn’t a calculated response to the worldwide platform provided him.  

Conlan’s reaction to his controversial loss was a natural representation of who he is as a person, for better or worse. With that said, he doesn’t feel any push as a professional to live up to his rebel persona each time he steps in front of the camera.  

“In the Olympics, and how it happened, it was me,” Conlan said. “That was just me being honest and not just following the script that most athletes tend to do where it seems like they are reading off a page. So I just had to be honest and speak up.  

“I don’t feel any pressure at all because it’s just me as a person. If I don’t agree with something, I’m going to let you know I don’t agree with it. I’m not going to sit there and take it on the chin. I think there’s any pressure at all in this situation.” 

Conlan has relocated to Southern California where he works with trainer Manny Robles. It’s all part of Top Rank’s plan to promote Conlan in the United States.  

Former middleweight title challenger Matthew Macklin, who manages Conlan, expects Friday’s launch to be something special.  

“We are about to see an atmosphere at Madison Square Garden we’ve never seen before when Michael walks to the ring on Friday night,” Macklin said. “And Michael has the fighting ability to live up to everyone’s expectations.” 

Whether the 5-foot-8 Conlan meets that potential or not, he’s likely to become an instant box office sensation on the road to finding out. Thanks to the incredible following of Irish fans he has already built, the comparisons to England’s former two-division champion Ricky Hatton are inevitable.   

“Ricky Hatton and I have about the same fans and he brought fans by the thousands [to the United States] and I plan to do the same,” Conlan said. “Watching him back in the day, it was amazing for him to have fans like that and luckily I’m going to have fans like that myself. Not every fighter does get that kind of support but it will be big for me to get that so early in my career. I would love to replicate Ricky’s support and go on to even bigger.” 

As Conlan puts it regarding the pressure of becoming Ireland’s favorite son in his chosen sport: “The nation’s pride rests on my shoulders.” And while he was unable to complete his Olympic dream of gold last summer, one can argue he’s starting off his pro career with more fanfare thanks to how his failure played out  

“It’s a silver lining at the end of the tunnel,” Conlan said. “It has worked out well for me. If I could go back and change what I could, going for gold or take what had happened, I would still go for gold because back then the Olympics and becoming a champion was my ultimate dream. I would take it in a heartbeat if it was offered. But I’m really happy.”