THE manner of victory over Miguel Marriaga on Saturday will have laid some ghosts to rest for Michael Conlan - the opinion of head coach Adam Booth.

Conlan was a wide points victor over the Colombian with a composed and professional display. He did have to come through heavy fire in the final round and such a scenario was always going to bring back memories of the Leigh Wood fights but this time he got through it and finished on top.

That in itself proved that lessons had been learned and this was a huge plus to take away from the evening for Booth.

"There were obvious boxes ticked and great discipline," he said.

"How many people come off a knockout loss and fight someone who has got 26 knockouts from 30 wins? 

"He really put a demon to bed tonight as he tested himself. He said to me that every time Marriaga was landing to the body, he could feel it as he was so heavy-handed. He was buzzed heavily in the last round and turned the tables on it.

"It was a shame with the knockdowns as the ring canvas was slippery and made it unfair on Marriaga. Maybe that wound him up a bit more, but overall I'm delighted."

Conlan also remained disciplined when he had his moments, not wasting a shot as he lured Marriaga into mistakes he would punish consistently.

Against Wood, the Belfast man got dragged into a toe-to-toe battle but there would be no repeat this time around, proving he had moved on and can now look to a second bid for world honours.

"It's about no getting drunk on his own success, reigning it in when you do have success so you don't give away opportunities to a dangerous puncher," Booth explained.

"When you are in there for so long with a heavy-handed fighter, you have to expect you'll get buzzed, so I thought that was a great "performance.

"When he was buzzed in the last round, he used his legs a little bit, stayed small, scrapped with him and even though he was buzzed, technically he was doing the right things.

"He proved in the Leigh Wood fight that he arrived and proved tonight that he can come back from a bad loss.

"Mick is popular and that popularity brings money and that money brings the opportunities, so let's just wait and see what happens now."