Michael Conlon claims AIBA bantamweight world crown in Doha

In desperation, the Uzbek threw a big right hook in the final minute, which connected with Conlan’s chin to send the Irishman sprawling.

“I’m a world champion so there’s not much else you can say”, said Conlan after the win. Bizarrely, the judges gave Conlan the final round, which was harsh on Akhmadaliev.

“I just knew I had to keep to my gameplan because he Asanau was going to fold – he’s only a young lad”.

But Conlan says he doesn’t care who stands in the opposite corner and says, at his best, he’ll beat any opponent.

“It was the first time I’ve ever been down in my life, I’ve never had to worry about that so maybe it’s a bit of a wake-up call just to stick to my boxing and get the longevity in my career by keeping out of the way”, added the Irish team captain, who picked up his nation’s first male gold in the 41-year history of the tournament.

Conan, cheered on by a large number of Irish fans in the packed Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena in the Qatari capital, also became a father for the first time this year and said he was “desperate” to get home to see his baby daughter.

Russia’s WSB southpaw Vasilii Egorov faced off against fleet-footed Cuban Joahnys Argilagos in the opening bout.

If form is anything to go by, however, the more experienced Irishman – sixth in 2011 and 2013 – will be confident of a gold medal.

Argilagos said afterwards that he had “prepared well” for the tournament and wanted more medals.

O’Reilly was on the wrong side of a few questionable scoring in the first two rounds of his bout.

This is a fight shrouded in a certain amount of uncertainty as there is a slight possibility that even the loser could progress to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games due to a potential loophole in AIBA qualification quota rules – although it could be December before that issue is cleared up!

But the judges decided the title was still his.

Previously unbeaten Bektemir Melikuziev’s counter-attacking style had taken him all the way to Wednesday’s middleweight final against Arlen Lopez.

Russian Federation also won gold at light-welterweight (64kg), with Vitaly Dunaytsev beating Uzbekistan’s Fazliddin Gaibnazarov.

Erislandy Savon relied heavily on his strong counter punches against Russian Evgeny Tishchenko in the opening round of the heavyweight final.

The remaining five finals will be fought on Thursday.