World title challenger Michael Conlan has boxed all over the globe - but it is the warmth of his welcome in Sheffield that has really impressed him.

The Belfast super featherweight arrived at Grant Smith's Steel City gym in August, keen to restart his career after losing two high-profile fights in his own home city in 2023.

If he is going to get back in contention for trinkets like the IBF belt - he was stopped by then reigning-champion Luis Alberto Lopez last May - he has to forge a good understanding with Smith, who looks after the likes of his son Dalton, Junaid Bostan, Chantelle Cameron, Liam Cameron and, until recently, Sunny Edwards.

The rich seam of talent there was one of the reasons Conlan made the switch in trainer.

And after a couple of months, their relationship appears to be blossoming at the Darnall gym, helped also by the generous spirit in the Sheffield scene generally.

Sheffield has long considered one of the friendliest city in the UK, and Conlan buys into that concept.

"It's just been great. It's a great gym and the people are great.

"The people in Sheffield are actually really nice people. Up north, they are really nice."It was a theme he warmed to in an interview with Boxing Social."There are good people around the gym and in the gym, it's been great and I am really enjoying it."

placeholder image — Michael Conlan: ripped

He said he was gelling well with Grant but added that he had been boxing since he was six years old and hadn't wanted to go to any trainer who would attempt to transform the skills that had led him to an 18-3-0 record.

Smith "was not trying to change my style - just tweaking little mistakes and that is what I wanted. I am really happy with it" he said.

Conlan, a bronze medal winner in the 2012 Olympics has had a varied professional career, and says he has "earned an awful lot of money."

But after contests in America, Australia and the UK, he is hoping Steel City will be a springboard to major titles.