Michael Conlan has repeatedly stated that he wouldn’t have continued boxing without the conviction that he could still claim an elusive world title.

Conlan, 19-3 (9 KOs), is very much his own man and has a firm belief of what he is still capable of but if he does need a shot of inspiration, he doesn’t have to look too far to see some of his contemporaries enjoying top level success in the later stages of their careers.

Last month, 33 year-old Jazza Dickens rediscovered the clever use of angles and footwork that characterized his early rise and beat world ranked super featherweight, Zelfa Barrett.

Conlan’s fellow Belfastman, Anthony Cacace, 36, had to wait for his world title opportunity but snatched it by stopping Joe Cordina to become the IBF 130lb champion last May. He followed that up by beating former IBF featherweight title holder, Josh Warrington, and is now preparing for a highly anticipated fight with Conlan’s old rival, Leigh Wood. The returning two-time WBA featherweight champion is 36 years old himself.

Conlan is 33 and has thrown himself into a final assault on the world featherweight scene.

“Listen, there's people who have lost and came back,” Conlan told The Ring.

“The thing I don't like about boxing - and I think it's starting to go away with the likes of Turki Alalshikh coming in - is the ‘0’ and how important it is.

“But what I hate is how when someone loses and promoters - some of the biggest promoters in the game at the minute - are saying, ‘He's done, he's washed’ and all this s—t. That pisses me off. Put the gloves on, let me show you if I'm done or not.”

Conlan admits that he spent time considering his future after suffering a disappointing stoppage defeat to Jordan Gill in December 2023.

Once he was sure that he still possessed the desire to continue, he decided to change his entire approach. He parted ways with his trainer, Pedro Diaz and is now working with Grant Smith at Sheffield’s thriving Steel City gym.

The partnership got off to a successful start with an eight round win over India’s Asad Khan two weeks ago and the duo will now set their sights on a fight with European champion, Cristobal Lorente.

Conlan is happy with his decision and content with the path he is walking.

“People need to understand the intangibles of boxing,” he said.

“You’re probably never going to understand them but there's so much s—t going on in the background in a fighter’s life. They need to have a great training camp and everything else at home and different things to go well at the same team. And that's very hard to get them all in together.”