Callum Walsh is unbeaten and he has an engaging back story but, after only nine fights, the young fighter from Cork is riding a wave of publicity in America that many boxers can only dream of generating. Trained by the great Freddie Roach and managed by Tom Loeffler, who helped to shape the careers of Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko as well as Gennady Golovkin, the 23‑year‑old Irishman is also being hyped heavily by Dana White and the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It is an unusual combination that has sparked jealousy.
“If you’ve had 30 fights and you’re not getting attention, you’re obviously not fighting the right opponents,” Walsh says as he prepares to headline the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday night.
Typically, all the attention is focused on Walsh rather than Dauren Yeleussinov, whom he will face in a 10-round contest at junior-middleweight. “I don’t know much about him,” Walsh says of the 37-year-old from Kazakhstan who has lost three of his 15 bouts. “But Freddie Roach has a game plan and we’re going to implement it and get the job done. It’s St Patrick’s Day weekend, so it’s a big day for the Irish and a big night in New York. This is my 10th fight and I’m feeling a lot better for this one than for my last fight in Madison Square Garden. The first one was hard but now I know exactly what to expect and I’m very confident.”
Walsh had won seven of his eight fights by stoppage but, four months ago, in his first appearance at the Garden, he faced a test. Ismael Villarreal, from the Bronx, had lost only once in 14 bouts and he fought with aggression and ambition. “It was definitely my hardest fight so far,” Walsh says. “I was fighting a young prospect in his back garden and he wasn’t going to lie down in front of his fans. I was actually pissing blood afterwards from the low blows.”
Walsh won a wide decision on points but he was annoyed he took a count in the last round. “I didn’t really go down. He pushed me with two hands and my gloves just touched the canvas. So it shouldn’t have been counted as a knockdown but the referee didn’t see it properly. I’ve had 129 fights [120 as an amateur] and that’s the first time I’ve taken a count. I just have to keep improving, fight as often as I can and climb the rankings.”
Walsh has been boxing for 17 years – his dad took him at the age of six to a gym in Cork. “I had my first amateur fight when I was 11 and I was gutted to lose it,” Walsh says. “He [his opponent] was a year older than me but I actually beat him a few years later and I won my first national title at 15. I won six national titles after that, as well as a European gold medal, and I was trying to qualify for the 2020 Olympics. I never really thought about the pro game until Covid.”
Walsh is convinced he would have won an Olympic medal but the Tokyo Games were pushed back a year. Walsh had visited Roach’s Wild Card gym when he was 15 and so, early in 2021 and frustrated by the Olympic postponement, he wanted to return to Los Angeles for a six-week stint of training. But his life soon turned inside out.
“Ireland was a banned country in the US and you couldn’t enter because of Covid restrictions. Mexico wasn’t banned at the time so if you quarantined there for two weeks you could then travel to America,” Walsh says. “So I flew from Ireland to Tijuana and stayed for two weeks. I then tried to walk across the border twice and they turned me back twice. Then, the third time, I actually got a flight from Mexico to LA and they let me in. I told them I was visiting family [Walsh’s dad lives in Long Beach].
“A couple of days later I went to the Wild Card. When I’d been there before I got a photo with Freddie and bought a T-shirt. This time I knocked on the door and Freddie came out. I told him about all my amateur titles and asked if I could train.”
Roach, who had heard it all before, was not particularly impressed. “He said if I wanted to train I would have to spar,” Walsh recalls. “So I said: ‘No problem.’ I sparred with Blair Cobbs [a pro welterweight unbeaten after 15 fights] but I didn’t know who he was then. I did well and Freddie told me to come back the next day. That was good enough for me. I slept on my dad’s couch and soon decided to stay and turn pro.”
Walsh made his debut in California in December 2021, knocking out his opponent in 97 seconds, and I ask what Roach has taught him most effectively. “I had a very good amateur style and I was able to box. But over the last three years Freddie has taught me the pro style, so I am much more aggressive and nail my punches.”
Walsh’s knockout record is impressive but it is out of the ring where he has accumulated his real power. He makes it clear that working with Loeffler and White was not part of any grand plan on his part. “I didn’t know who Tom Loeffler was because I didn’t have much knowledge about the pro game when I was in Ireland. But I knew who GGG [Golovkin] was. So the link to Tom came through Freddie and since I’ve been working with him I’ve come to understand that [Loeffler is] very connected. You’ve seen what he’s done with my career in such a short space of time.”
Walsh is different to most boxers as his contests are shown exclusively on the UFC’s Fight Pass platform, which means he has a large mixed martial arts following. “I’m sure Dana White [who heads the UFC] is the biggest promoter in the world,” Walsh says, “and soon after I signed with Tom he started working on a UFC Fight Pass deal. Obviously Dana had lots of success with another young Irish fighter [Conor McGregor]. So it made sense that Tom introduced me to Dana. When I went to Vegas I showed Dana some of my fights and told him about myself and he came on board with his Howler Head whiskey as one of my sponsors. He came to see me fight a few times and now he’s fully on board and wants to help me win a world title.”
Walsh followed MMA more closely than boxing as a kid and, like many young Irishmen then, he was blown away by McGregor’s UFC success. McGregor’s reputation has been sullied since then but Walsh says: “I remember trying to stay up all night for his fights. I was about 13 when he fought José Aldo [McGregor knocked the Brazilian out in 13 seconds in 2015]. I was up all night trying to wait for the fight and kept falling asleep. When the fight finally came on it was finished in 10 seconds. So it was the craziest thing when I met McGregor and he actually knew who I was. He’s now one of my sponsors.”
I like the fact that, unlike McGregor, Walsh seems modest and understated in our interview. “I’m the same I’ve been my whole life. No matter what happens I’m always going to be the same person. But we won’t know how good I really am until I fight the best.”
When asked who is the best fighter in his division there is no mention of Jermell Charlo or Tim Tszyu. “I have no idea,” Walsh says. “I don’t look at the division. Just give me the fight and I’ll show up and do my best.”
Walsh has expressed interest in fighting in the UFC one day and he has certainly learned enough about the dangers of professional boxing. When I ask him to compare the rigours of MMA to his current profession Walsh shakes his head: “Boxing is a lot harder on the brain because you’re getting constantly punched in the head. In the UFC, if you get knocked down they jump on top of you and the fight is over. But in boxing you get knocked down, they give you a 10 count, you get back up and recover and you’re getting punched again and again. It’s more dangerous.”
Roach believes Walsh will be ready for a crack at a world title in another year, while Loeffler and White have spoken of the possibility of him fighting in Ireland in 2024. Asked whether that might be in Dublin or Cork, Walsh responds wryly. “I’m a Cork man, so I’d hope for Cork, but I’m not involved with picking the arena and the promoting. I just do the fighting.”
The promotion of “King” Callum Walsh seems relentless but the fighter himself is winningly pragmatic. “I just want to win as much as I can, as quick as I can,” he says with a wise, little smile. “And make as much money as I can.”
