LONDON, England — When a 24-year-old amateur Mick Conlan returned to the National Stadium dressing room after beating Nasim Sadiqi over three-threes back in July 2016, he had no idea it would be the last time he would see a Dublin ring for the best part of a decade.

But on September 5, the Belfast man will finally return to Ireland’s capital for his first ever outing there as a professional when he faces Jack Bateson over 10 rounds at the 3Arena.

Unsurprisingly, he is a totally different man now. A month after that victory over Sadiqi he competed at the Olympics in Rio, which culminated in his quarter-final elimination and the subsequent middle finger salute which encapsulated the feeling around amateur boxing at the time.

It was just one of the incidents which hardened him to a sport which he had once loved. Although he has dedicated the last 26 years of his life to boxing, his fondness for it, these days, is at a premium. “It’s a horrible game,” he tells The Ring. “And it’s a sport that you can never love because it will never love you back.”

Even so, on he goes in search of the world title you sense will determine whether or not he can ever retire as a happy man. He has failed in his two previous attempts to win the ultimate prize, suffering stoppage defeats to Leigh Wood and then Luis Alberto Lopez within a 14-month period across 2022 and 2023. Now, at 19-3, 9 KOs, Conlan makes no secret of his plan to retire from boxing as soon as he loses for a third time - or wins a world title.

It is a fact he feels has alleviated much of the pressure upon him. “If I were to lose again now that is it,” Conlan says. “It’s as simple as that. I’m out of here.

“I have no fear saying that and, to be honest, it takes pressure off me. I’m just going to enjoy myself now because I’ve probably put too much pressure on myself over the years. That has probably hindered me.

“Now obviously, what will be will be and I’m going to enjoy the whole journey now because it seems throughout my career I've had massive nights and massive performances. I’ve had a lot of hate and everything else. But none of it means f**k all unless you’re a world champion.”

Conlan drew a line under 14 months out of the ring in March when he comfortably outpointed Asad Asif Khan over eight rounds in Brighton. Despite hopes of a shot at the European featherweight belt, a non-title clash against Bateson is next.

“It’s a good fight for what it is, do you know what I mean?” says Conlan, not expecting a response. “Jack is a good guy and I have nothing bad to say about him. I'll be straight up, Jack was never on my radar in a sense. So for that to happen, it wasn't something I was going ‘okay, yes, let's go Jack Bateson’. It was just like, okay, whatever.

“He can be a tricky opponent if you let him, but the plan is to not let that happen.”

It is put to Conlan that, given he spent such a long period out of the ring and having had only 22 fights over more than eight years as a pro, that he’s actually a young 33 in boxing terms.

“I don’t know about that mate,” he says with a laugh. “I don’t know if I can call myself young in this game anymore. I’ve been in this game a long time.

“But I would say I feel fresh and rejuvenated for 33. That time out of the ring has put the fire back in me and brought the spark back. It has made me think ‘Listen, you know what you want to do and you know what you want to achieve, this is what you’ve got to do.

“I’m towards the end of my career, I’m no fool, I’m no longer a young gun, I’m at the tail end but I still know what I can do.”

Conlan was one of the most in-demand amateurs of his generation when he decided to turn professional after the Rio Olympics and the fact he headlined a Top Rank card at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in a six-rounder on his professional debut is testament to that. But his professional career has not exactly gone to plan. In fact, the whole nine years since the last time he threw a punch in Dublin have not unfolded quite how he imagined.

“I expected to be a world champion by now,” he says. “I thought I probably could have been in that position to be a world champion at this stage, but I suppose these things happen and you don't get to where you need to get to when you want to get there.

“But everything has a plan, and timing is very, very important, especially in this game. Timing is the main factor in boxing, in my opinion. When you fight people, where you fight people, how you fight people, all that stuff matters. So, yes, I’m probably not where I expected to be, but happy to be back in Dublin after all these years.

“It’s a bucket list thing for me. To be able to do it at this stage of my career is great and I’m really excited about that. My last fight there in 2016 was a long time ago now but I remember it like it was yesterday. It’s a very, very special place for me and somewhere where I forged most of my amateur career.”

So is the dream now to manoeuvre himself into a position where he can secure his third world title shot in Dublin?

“Oh 100 per cent,” he says before pausing for a moment. “Actually, you know what, it really doesn’t matter.

“I’m just saying things now, probably because I’m doing an interview, but to win a world title anywhere would be unbelievable. Could be on the moon for all I care.

“And you know what, once I win it, I’ll say ‘hasta luego, people, I’m out of here, see you later’. I’ve had enough of this horrible game, I’m gone. The only reason I’m still boxing is because of that goal of becoming a world champion and I know I have the ability to do it.”