Bob Velin

USA TODAY Sports

Michael Conlan’s second professional fight will not live up to his amazing debut on St. Patrick’s Day.

You can take that to the bank. It won't come close to what happened on March 17 at the raucous, sold-out Theater at Madison Square Garden, where Conlan was walked to the ring by his friend and UFC superstar Conor McGregor, then stopped his opponent Tim Ibarra in the third round.

And that’s fine with the charismatic Irishman.

The Olympic bronze medalist (1-0, 1 KO) from Belfast, Northern Ireland, now living in Los Angeles, makes his second professional start Friday under the Top Rank banner, taking on Alfredo Chanez (4-4) in a six-round bout at 122 pounds at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago (Solo Boxeo on UniMas, 11 p.m. ET).

Conlan won’t have McGregor around this time, but he’s still the main event, which also features a pair of welterweight bouts on the televised undercard. Former 140-pound champion Mike Alvarado (36-4, 24 KOs) faces Matthew Strode (24-4, 9 KOs) in a 10-rounder, and 22-year-old rising star Alex Saucedo (24-0, 15 KOs) takes on Wilberth Lopez (18-7, 13 KOs) in an eight-rounder.

The 25-year-old Conlan, who skyrocketed to fame during the Rio Olympics after he gave the double middle finger salute to each of the judges on international TV and slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin on Twitter following his highly controversial semifinal loss to Russian Vladimir Nikitin, welcomes the more low-key affair in the Windy City.

“I’m looking forward to it. I’ve had a long, tough training camp, I’m really happy with how things went and looking forward to getting the show on the road,” the 25-year-old told USA TODAY Sports this week. “I think we’ll have a great turnout of Irish fans. It’s always a pleasure to fight in front of people from my own nation. There’s a lot of second-generation kin of Irish here in Chicago and I think it’s a great city to fight in.

“It’s the next stop on the road to the Conlan Revolution.”

The “Conlan Revolution” is Top Rank’s marketing campaign to promote how the company believes its young star will revolutionize boxing among European fighters in breaking through to the U.S. market.

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum has no concerns about the pressure Conlan might feel being the main event in his first two bouts.

“Not at all. Look what we did with (Oscar) De La Hoya,” Arum said. “By his second or third fight he was fighting at the top of the card. Now some of the fights underneath him were better, but he was still the head of the card. The idea of burying him underneath is something to be avoided. With Shakur (Stevenson) we put him on a big pay-per-view card and on Crawford’s card because he was working with Crawford. So in effect he was not the head of the bill, but he got a lot of publicity. With Mick, he can carry the top of a card.”

Conlan, who moved to Marina Del Rey in L.A. with his fiancé and their daughter for the foreseeable future while he launches his pro boxing career, embraces the pressure.

“Working with Bob and the Top Rank team, I don’t think there’s any other place I’d rather be on the card than at the top,” he said. “I know it would be hard to be at the top every time. Listen, if I’m given the opportunity to fight on the bottom or top of a card, I’d rather the top and have that added pressure because I’m going to be the top of the card very, very soon, so why not get the experience now and get the learning curve out of the way. I feel I’m ready for it.”

While he misses Belfast, Conlan understands he will have a relatively short career in boxing and wants to make the most of it.

“I know that coming here to America and being dedicated and making some sacrifices is all part of the journey if you want to be the best,” he said, while praising his trainer Manny Robles, who has two Top Rank champions under his watch. Conlan has fit seamlessly into the training program.

“Manny has me doing something different and learning something new, and working with Manny is fantastic,” Conlan said. “I feel like I’m learning every day out there, and that’s what I want. So far so good.”

Arum places a lot of trust in Robles. “I think Manny is terrific,” Arum said. “He has a couple of my big fighters, Oscar Valdez and Jessie Magdaleno, and they all work together. It’s always good when you can work with other good fighters.”

Since turning pro with a bang, following his Olympic story, Conlan is easily recognized both in Ireland and the U.S. these days.

“I was always (well-known) back in Ireland, being probably one of the best amateur boxers there -- amateur boxing in Ireland is very mainstream in the media -- so I was always going to be recognized, especially after London 2012 when I got bronze I got a lot of recognition,” he said. “Now when I go back it’s even more so because I live in America. Everybody back home can’t believe how well I’m doing and they’re very, very proud of me.”

Conlan has gained several sponsors for his fights, and has at least one product endorsement, with more to come based on his good looks and charisma. “I have an agent, and he’s doing a lot for me and it’s going fantastic,” he said.

If all goes well on Friday, Conlan will be headed to Australia next to be the co-feature on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff Horn welterweight title fight July 2 in Brisbane. Conlan couldn’t be happier fighting on a card with one of his childhood heroes.

“I can’t believe it. Manny Pacquiao was my man when I was a boy and I never really imagined that I would be in a position to be the co-feature for (him),” he explained. “It’s special. I’m honored. Manny is one of my favorite fighters for the last decade, and it’s going to be surreal fighting on his undercard.”

Arum said he didn’t know Pacquiao was one of Conlan’s childhood heroes. He has another reason for putting him on the card.

“I put him on is because so many people in Brisbane are related to him,” Arum said. “They’re not only Irish, but they’re family, distant family and so forth. He says there are cousins he hasn’t seen in years. I think it’s really good.”

With the three largest cities in the U.S. under his belt, Conlan can set his sights on a third continent.