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Extra.ie
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Oasis: 'You get 5 years' good grace out of the press and then it's, "Right, you can f**k off now!"'
Ahead of Oasis's sold-out Croke Park shows on August 16 & 17, we're taking a deep dive into the Hot Press archives – to hear Liam and Noel's incredible story in their own words… Ahead of two more Point Depot sellouts for Oasis in March, Noel agreed to a Mixed Grill interview where Hot Press readers asked the questions. You didn't let us down with these some of the highlights… Jill, Naas: 'For a band that's supposedly on its last legs, you sold the Point out pretty quick.' Noel: 'I know and the single ('Songbird') is number one in the mid-weeks. You get five years good grace out of the UK music press and then it's, 'Right, you can fuck off now!' It was the same for The Smiths and The Jam and the Sex Pistols and all those bands who actually meant something to people. You get your five years and then they want something new, which I haven't a problem with. I'll keep doing it for as long as it makes me happy. We get slagged off every fucking day in the newspapers, but so what?' Owen Turner, Dublin, but currently living in France: 'Keane or McCarthy?' Noel: 'Roy Keane. I have to point out that this is strictly speaking as a Republic of Ireland fan. When he plays for Manchester United, I wish nothing but broken limbs on the bastard. If you're going to go training for the World Cup and there aren't any footballs… Mick McCarthy calling that meeting so all the players could tell him what they thought of him was fucking stupid. I'm not going to say a bad word about Roy, though, in case I meet him out one afternoon. He'd kick your head in, wouldn't he? Bonehead lives near him in Manchester and I've heard stories!' Michael Browne, Abbeyfeale: 'If you could change one thing about your career, what would it be?' Noel: 'I'd have had a year off immediately after that Knebworth gig. And then probably another six months writing what became Be Here Now. We tried to follow up (What's The Story) Morning Glory? a bit too quickly. But other than that, fuck all really, because it's been a pretty good laugh.' Gary Kearns, Westport: 'Did you have a good giggle when those Mafia blokes twatted Liam?' Noel: 'At the beginning when he was arrested and carted off to hospital in pain, no. But now, I think it's stunningly fucking hilarious. In the unlikely event that they're reading this, I'd like to say to the Italian Mafia people, 'Thanks for saving us the job'' There was a large queue forming in England for the pleasure of kicking that cunt's face in, and I happened to be at the front of it!' Oasis's Liam Gallagher at the Point Depot, March 2003 David McNamara, Middleton: 'You said in your last Hot Press interview that Bono had given you two books. What are they?' Noel: 'Searching For The Invisible God and What's So Amazing About Grace?, which are both by Philip Yancey. He sent one to me and one to me girlfriend – she finished hers because she reads like a fucking madman and I got the gist of mine.' Simon Parry, Sevenoaks: 'Paint us a picture of what your old Supernova Heights house was like?' Noel: 'It was like a bad advert for drugs if you went inside it. Fucking hell, man. There was a seventeen-foot fish tank with one fish in it! You find that all the relationships you have with people are based on the complete and utter bullshit you speak at 7am in the morning. 'I wonder who built the pyramids?' Who fucking cares? 'It wasn't really me friends, it was the friends who became friends because they were mates of your mates, and it was like, 'Hang on a minute, what do you do again?' And they'd say, 'Oh, I know such and such a person', and I'd think, 'What are you doing in my kitchen?''
The 42
05-08-2025
- Sport
- The 42
'This should have been Bernard Dunne 2.0... but life played out how it played out'
By Joe O'Neill IRISH BOXING JOURNALISTS are like broken records. Any and all discussions will, eventually, always and forever, return to The Bernard Dunne Days™. Four or so years usually cannot be labelled an 'era', but for a generation of boxing fans, especially those south of the border, 2006 to 2009 was the heyday. Terrestrial TV coverage, national attention, thrilling fights, and a posse of quality fighters forever imprinted on the general sports fan despite, objectively, greater success occurring in the years which followed. 'When will we – and how do we – get those days back?' is the frequent, admittedly naïve post-fight pints discussion. In truth, the Brian Peters-powered vehicle was a moment in time that will never be replicated in a time of increasingly fragmented sports media rights and growing Saudi influence. Indeed, the 3Arena, formerly the Point Depot via a spell as the O2, has played host to increasing amounts of boxing in recent years, with Katie Taylor duking it out with Chantelle Cameron twice in 2023 and Cork's Callum Walsh having his Irish homecoming at the venue in 2024. On Friday, 5 September, the boxer who many in the industry felt could have been the man to bring back the glory days will finally make his bow on the North Quays. While there has been plenty of water under the bridge over the last decade, Belfast featherweight Mick Conlan (19-3, 9 KOs) was perfectly placed to be the Capital King. Olympic bronze medallist in 2012, RTÉ Sports Personality of the Year in 2015, the biggest story in Irish sport in 2016, a television regular. The cheeky chappy, the world's best with warranted confidence, the wronged Irish sporting hero who stood up for himself. While Belfast born and bred, the Dublin-based Conlan was always bigger 'down south', but it has taken 22 professional contests and over eight years for him to step through the ropes in the Fair City. Speaking to The 42 today at a media launch event for his WBC rankings fight with England's Jack Bateson, Conlan recalled simpler times in the IABA High Performance Unit. 'I've had many a day, night in Dublin. I lived here basically from 2011 'til 2016. I was here Tuesday to Friday every week, away from family, away from everything. '…Many nights out here too, like. coming out of Coppers at around 6am, some mad ones,' Conlan laughs. 'But, you know, it's somewhere that I haven't been as a professional. I've been witnessing shows in the 3Arena and witnessing nights out in the 3Arena, but I never fought there. 'It's great, I'm really excited. It's somewhere that I think I probably should have fought a lot more as a professional – but that wasn't in my control at the time. So, y'know, now I'm self-managed, now I'm doing everything myself and I get to call my own shots, and I'm happy.' Following his Olympic heartbreak in 2016, Conlan was snapped up by American promotional behemoth Top Rank, netting one of the largest signing-on fees in boxing history. Managed initially by Matthew Macklin under the broader MGM (later MTK Global) banner, which Macklin co-founded with Daniel Kinahan, the Dublin dream unsurprisingly never got off the ground. Conlan, later managed by his older brother Jamie, disentangled himself from MTK in 2021 but had long since established himself in Belfast as he chased world titles. Does he look back with regret? 'Always. Not even looking back. Here is where I should have been based,' the 33-year-old admits. 'This should have been Bernard Dunne 2.0, you know what I mean? In terms of, like, the shows which should have happened here in The Point and stuff. That's sort of what I would have liked to happen but unfortunately it didn't and life played out how it played out, and my career has played out how it's played out.' Conlan inside the 3Arena. Wasserman Boxing Wasserman Boxing While Conlan's mainstream prominence in the south faded for many reasons – among them the removal of the Olympic microscope, his management by MTK, and the simple passing of time – he still feels the warmth in Dublin. 'I'd still say I am [more known in Dublin than in Belfast],' he says during the media day in Ballsbridge, a brief visit before he flies back to Sheffield to finish camp with coach Grant Smith. 'As I said to the boys, when I fight in Belfast, 50% of my tickets are from the south of Ireland. It's massive. Anytime I come down here, Little Gerard [Hughes, training partner] is my photographer, people want to get photos and it's brilliant. 'I always get recognised in Dublin. I probably get more people willing to come and ask for a photo in Dublin than you would in Belfast. Listen, it's fantastic, the fact that I'm back here. 'I'm still a big name here, no matter what anybody says or what everybody thinks, probably bigger down here than in Belfast. Advertisement 'Now, at the tail-end of my career, I'm getting to come back to the 3Arena and finally fight there as a professional and, y'know, main event as well, so it's always special.' September's opponent Bateson was a decent amateur who won light-flyweight bronze at the 2013 European Championships in Belarus (Conlan won silver at the weight above in the same tournament). He is far from a pushover. From 22 contests, the Leeds boxer boasts 20 wins – albeit only three against notable opposition – versus one stoppage loss to the rising Shabaz Masoud, as well as a technical draw with Danny Quatermaine in which the bout was stopped in just the second round due to a head clash. Conlan is expecting a fired-up opponent, noting how 'this is Jack's world title fight'. 'This is his big opportunity to break through because, no matter what, even if I'm at the tail-end of my career, I'm still a big name for anybody,' says the Belfast man. 'If he can beat me, he can go and get some big fights off of that, so I've got to be on my 'A' game.' Michael Conlan on his way to the ring against Jordan Gill in 2023. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO The Falls Road switch-hitter last boxed in March, posting a low-key points win over awkward Indian journeyman Asad Asif Khan in Brighton. 'The first fight with Grant was the first fight back after over a year out of the ring,' Conlan explains. 'The training camp and all, it wasn't amazing, but I just got in, got it done, got the job done in front of me, against a tricky opponent. He had a really hard head, I actually hurt my hands on his head! So the fact that I got in there and got that done, y'know, it was good, but this training camp has been much different. 'I'm firing on all cylinders again. The first one, I wasn't really firing at all. This one, I'm starting to come back into myself and I'm really excited because I'm expecting a spectacular performance. 'I haven't felt this good in the gym in a long time – and that's not a lie. Like, I know a lot of people say it, a lot of fighters say, like, 'best camp' and all this… nah, that has never really been my case. I've always been honest and open about that, y'know, but this one really has been the best I've felt, mentally and physically, in a long time. 'So I'm going into this fight and, listen, anything can happen, you've got to be prepared for anything. I can go in and look spectacular, or I can go, y'know, look shit, but how everything is going at the minute, I believe I'll go in and look unbelievable.' In truth, the former English super bantamweight champion is, at his absolute very best, 'European level'. Michael Conlan should be winning this fight comfortably if he wants to have any chance of contending for world titles. The problem is that similar was said in December 2023 ahead of Conlan's fight with Jordan Gill in Belfast. This was a comeback against 'domestic-level' opposition in which Conlan was a heavy favourite (even heavier, with the bookmakers, than he is for his upcoming bout). That night, Conlan, who was 'starting afresh' under storied Cuban coach Pedro Diaz, was sensationally stopped in seven rounds by his unfancied foe. Contextualising what many thought would be the final time he would be seen in a ring, Conlan says: Before that, there was an awful lot of family stuff going on which wasn't a good thing to be going on during a fight week and, y'know, a lot of personal issues which weren't resolved until probably the end of 2024. It was announced in December 2024 that Michael would be stepping away from the 'Conlan Sport' management company he had founded with brother Jamie. Michael subsequently launched his own 'Conlan Boxing Management' outfit. 'They're resolved, they've been banished now. It is what it is, and I'm happy with my decisions which I've made and happy to stand on my own feet and my own truth,' says the younger Conlan brother. 'I wasn't in a good place then. I probably shouldn't have been in the ring, especially when I only trained for six weeks for the fight and I actually was only with the coach eight weeks. 'I said before the fight that I should not fight, and then my ego was kind of questioned. 'Really?' And I was like 'no, all right, well, listen, all right, I'll do it'. 'I'd sparred him (Jordan Gill) and I'd done this and done that, but sparring is sparring – and I learned in that fight that sparring is sparring. It doesn't really equate, especially when you're not in the right headspace. 'That one, yeah, I don't pay too much attention to it because of the situation which was going on in the background. 'No fighter should have fought in that way, but it is what it is.' Conlan believes his third professional stoppage defeat, following prior world-title reversals to Leigh Wood and Luis Alberto Lopez, could prove to be a blessing in disguise. He remains a fighter with a large profile, a recognisable name, but the Gill loss, would suggest he is unable to compete at the upper levels of the sport. These are all attractive traits for a matchmaker. 'It's a fight anybody can look back on and go, 'Oh I could do that',' Conlan says. 'Great, great, come and do that. Let's see what happens because you didn't get an 80% me in that fight. 'So, the fact that I'm going into this fight and I feel like I'm getting back there, probably gonna be, I wanna say, 90 or 95 at the minute. I'm almost hitting 100 again and, once I hit 100, it's game over for anyone.' Michael Conlan receives a count against Jordan Gill. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO World titles seemed an impossibility in the wake of that Gill loss and talk of them may still sound fanciful to many in boxing, but Conlan is adamant he has the tools. 'I'm convinced. I know how I fight, I know how I've been performing in the gym, and I know what I can do and what I can't do,' he says, before offering further rationale. 'My body, I don't feel like I'm getting old. I don't drink. If I drink, I probably drink once a year, maybe twice. I don't take drugs, I don't smoke. So, it's not like I've abused my body. I've always lived like a professional, my whole career. 'I've no doubt in my engine still and how I can go. I've always been a fit person, you know? I was able to run a marathon in 2 hours 55 minutes last year – and that was my year off. I don't take my feet off the gas. I go 100 miles an hour, whatever I'm getting into, and give it 100%. 'There might be some things which are different, a lot of things which I've worked on, which I've wanted to work on. I think what Grant has done a great job doing is tightening up things and tightening up defensive movements, and defence while in close and stuff. 'It's something I'm very excited to show, something I'm very excited to do, and it'll give me more opportunities to do what I want to do when I'm in close or when I'm in long range.' While he is adding more strings to his boxing bow in camp, a rough few years have allowed Conlan to develop his intangible traits. 'It's just maturity isn't?' he says. 'It's all well and good saying when you haven't had the experience, but once you get that experience and you go in there and you know how to fight, and you know how to pace fights and you know how to do things differently instead of, y'know, look at the Wood fight where I probably overly worked. I did too much because I was winning rounds quite easy, but still trying to take a guy out who had enough grit to hold in. 'They're the things you look back on: 'If I would have done this, if I would have done that, things would end differently.' In that fight, it was more fatigue than anything that got me at the end, but that's experience and, y'know, it was my first world title fight and that's probably one that actually keeps me up at night at times. Well, I'll think about that one more than anything. 'But, yeah, listen, I've got the experience. You gotta go in there and use your experience to your advantage, and I think I'm at that stage now where I know what I have to do and know how to do it and if I can do this and that, this will work.' Conlan celebrates his 2022 victory over Miguel Marriaga. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO A self-confessed boxing anorak, Conlan has a route to a third title shot already plotted. Win his 10-rounder next month and he will pick up the WBC's 'International' trinket – a belt that is valuable only for the top-15 ranking it will likely provide. This would make Conlan eligible to be chosen as a voluntary defence by a world champion, while it is also a gateway to world-title eliminators from which he could position himself as a mandatory challenger. The current WBC champion in his weight class is former Carl Frampton sparring partner Stephen Fulton. The talented Philly fighter is a two-weight world champion but Conlan is confident and details why he has chosen the WBC route as his comeback trail. 'Stephen Fulton's the WBC champion and he's the one I like most out of all the featherweights. I think his style and my style would gel very well, and, y'know, he's the fighter I'd wanna fight out of all of them. 'And if I fight him, it will be in an away corner, but it could be in New York.' There is no margin for error anymore, though, and even if things go well, the route ahead is not guaranteed. But Conlan has already made his peace. 'I know that there's not a lot of years left on my clock – two, three max. Max. So whatever I want to do, I gotta do it fast, and I gotta do it soon – and if I don't do it, so be it. 'I've probably been unfortunate, with the fights that fell through and I've come up short in world title fights. Things out of my control have happened. 'For me, it would be a shame if I never won a world title in terms of my talent level, in terms of the effort I give. 'As I've said, the next time the opponent's hand gets put up, I'll say, 'That's me done'. No, that's it. 'Do I look back on my career and go, 'Well, you underachieved?' Yeah, I will, because I should have been a world champion. I was a minute and a half away from being a world champion. 'But, would I be able to sleep at night, knowing I've done it the correct way? I gave it all I could, didn't take no fucking steroids, didn't take any performance-enhancing drugs, like a lot of these people do. 'I'm happy, I've done well. I've earned out of boxing and, you know, I've been smart with money. I haven't been a silly person, spending money on silly things. 'I can look at myself and smile and say, 'You were smart with your money, you earned well, and you're out.''
