LIFTING his head from the pillow, Callum Walsh drinks in the Californian sunshine and ponders his journey from Cork, Ireland, to Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club in glamorous Los Angeles.
“It’s a crazy feeling,” he tells Boxing News. “It’s, like, I’m here! Right now! In LA! Waking up and I’m just about to go to the gym. It is a crazy feeling. But I can’t let any of that go to my head. The plan is working, I just have to keep doing what I’ve always done and just work hard until I’m a world champion.”
The super-welterweight prospect is at present making ready for his sixth skilled combat, taking on Leonardo di Stefano Ruiz in Boston over St Patrick’s Day weekend. Walsh might have been simply 20 years outdated when he made his skilled debut in 2021 however his early begin in boxing meant he’d already constructed up a raft of expertise in the novice code.
“I didn’t choose boxing. It was when I was young, I was probably six years old. It was my dad actually, he just put me into a boxing club. And I just stayed at it ever since. I just loved it,” he recollects.
“I think it definitely was a massive benefit that I started boxing at such a young age. By the time I was 15-16 I already had massive experience. It was a good amateur career. I won six national titles, a European gold medal.”
Despite his younger age Walsh had set his sights on making it to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. A loss to Belfast’s Aiden Walsh put paid to that aim, however from the ashes of that dream got here a possibility in Hollywood the younger Irishman merely couldn’t refuse.
“I wanted to try and fight him (Aiden Walsh) again. I wanted to see if I could get a box off for a place. But then obviously with COVID and everything, that’s why I came over here to LA to train. I wanted to just train with Freddie (Roach) and train here for a couple of weeks and then go home and try and get a box off. But then me and Freddie had a good relationship and everything was going well here so then that’s when I decided to stay.”
The spark between fighter and coach has continued to develop, with Walsh demonstrating the fruit of this training by means of an ideal 5-0 file, together with 4 stoppages. The younger prospect has a transparent sense of what he desires to convey to the game as an entertainer, and feels the meshing of novice education with Roach’s seek-and-destroy ethos will take him to the very prime.
“I have a picture of me and Freddie when I was, like, 15. So I just always wanted to train in the Wild Card. Working with a legend like Freddie Roach, the amount of knowledge the man has is crazy. And I’m learning new things from him every day. It’s unbelievable. I’ve always wanted to be an exciting fighter for the fans and definitely try to give them what they want. The fans want to see exciting fights, they want to see knockouts, they want to see blood and a war. Just entertainment at the end of the day. Freddie’s style is definitely something that will benefit me throughout my career, and the fact that I came from a good amateur background of boxing to be able to mix in the aggressive style from Freddie and have both styles.”
Callum Walsh
Behind the scenes Walsh has obtained illustrious backing. Tom Loeffler, a promoter who’s labored with the likes of the Klitschko brothers and Gennadiy Golovkin, was fast to snap up the younger prospect after recognizing his potential. Additionally, the UFC’s Dana White has added Walsh to his UFC Fight Pass subscription service. Buoyed by witnessing the passion of Irish-American followers in MMA, Walsh has been taken on in the hope of maximising the business potential that comes with a fighter who hails from the Emerald Isle.
“I haven’t heard Freddie speak of a young fighter the way he did about Callum as far as his potential,” says Loeffler.
“He fits right into the style that’s perfect for Freddie; that Manny Pacquiao, big puncher, southpaw style. And like Callum mentioned, coming from an amateur style to the Wild Card, refining his professional style really seems like it’s a perfect fit. We flew up to Las Vegas to meet with Dana White in January (2022). And all of a sudden when we sat down with Dana I saw he was thinking right away about the success he’d had with Conor McGregor and the Irish fans. He was looking at Callum Walsh on the boxing side with the Irish fan base. And so that’s how that all developed with Dana and he’s 100 per cent supporting him and supportive of Callum’s career.”
Having fought 4 instances final 12 months Walsh is hoping for an equally lively 2023, persevering with his skilled improvement while constructing his profile because the kind of thrilling knockout artist his fellow countrymen will rush to see. The alternative to do that in Boston, on St Patrick’s Day weekend, is one thing he’s clearly relishing.
“I definitely want to put on a show and I definitely want to get knockouts. I never want a fight going to go eight rounds. I never want to go that long. We never want to be in a boring fight. I want to give the fans what they want. They pay to come and see me so we need to give them what they want,” he declares.
“I don’t care who I fight. I trust in them, in Tom (Loeffler), I trust what Dana has planned and I know that they have the right plans for me. So, I just let them tell me when I’m going to fight and who it is and I just say, “OK.” There’s by no means any downside. Opponents, I’m by no means choosing and selecting. I’ll simply say, “yeah, that’s fine.” I do know I’m prepared for the highest degree. I do know, I can really feel in myself that I’m prepared. So, any combat, I’ll settle for.”
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