Callum Walsh knows what it means to earn a living with his hands. Before throwing hooks and jabs in the ring, he spent his days lifting cargo on fishing boats in the port of Cobh, under the cold Atlantic wind in his native Ireland.
He was only 16, but he already understood hard work. Today, at 24, he continues to work just as hard, although his stage has changed — now he does it under the bright lights of a boxing ring.
On Saturday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Walsh (14-0, 11 KOs) will have the night he always dreamed of.
He will fight on the co-main event of a card headlined by Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez and Terence Crawford, a huge platform for his young career, and it will be broadcast on Netflix, where he will risk his undefeated record in a 10-round super welterweight bout against another hungry youngster, Fernando Vargas Jr. (17-0, 15 KOs), heir to the surname of a former world champion.
Ireland’s Callum Walsh punches Scotland’s Dean Sutherland during a super welterweight boxing match on March 16 in New York.
(Frank Franklin II / Associated Press)
Far from trying to forget his days on the docks, Walsh is grateful for them.
“Training is tough, yes, but I enjoy it. It’s much better than getting up at dawn to go to the port,” Walsh said with a smile.
The work ethic he displayed as a loader on fishing boats also helped establish Walsh as one of the most promising prospects in world boxing.
The Irish southpaw has fought three times at Madison Square Garden and filled Dublin’s 3Arena last year. His aggressive and fast style sets him apart, with a volume of punches that rarely diminishes and a courage that leads him to exchange blows without backing down.
“I’ll be opening up to a much wider fan base. There will be a lot of people watching the fight,” said Walsh, who wants people to be satisfied with the contest, unlike the last Netflix show in which Jake Paul disappointed millions of viewers by having a very limited opponent, 58-year-old Mike Tyson.
“I want to show them what real boxing is all about. There will be a lot of people watching for the first time, and I want them to become fans,” said Walsh, an admirer of his compatriot, Conor McGregor, a UFC star.
Walsh is training at Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles under the watchful eye of Freddie Roach. There, the Irishman is combining his solid amateur foundation of more than 150 fights with the legendary trainer’s offensive style.
“I couldn’t have chosen a better teacher,” Walsh said.
On the other side of the ring, Walsh will face Vargas, a southpaw with a powerful punch who made his debut in 2020 but already boasts 17 victories — 15 of them by knockout. However, the odds in Las Vegas favor the Irishman.
“I don’t care about Las Vegas. Las Vegas loses all the time,” Vargas Jr. said on “The PorterWay Podcast” when asked about not being favored.
Undefeated junior middleweight boxers Callum Walsh, left, and Fernando Vargas Jr., right, face off while UFC’s Dana White looks on during a news conference at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.
(Steve Marcus / Getty Images)
The fight will not only be a duel between undefeated fighters. It will also be a huge showcase. The powerful boxing promoter and organizer of the Canelo vs. Crawford fight, Turki Al-Sheikh, will be watching Walsh closely, as will UFC president Dana White, who has shared a growing interest in boxing.
“The lights can’t shine any brighter than that night,” warned Tom Loeffler, Walsh’s promoter.
But Walsh says he doesn’t feel any pressure. Not from the stage, nor from protecting his perfect record.
“Everyone can lose at some point. The important thing is to face real fights and give the public what they want,” Walsh said. At 24, he knows he still has a long way to go.
The story of the young man who left the boats for the ring will have a new chapter this Saturday in Las Vegas. It will be up to his fists to impress the world and confirm that he is no longer a prospect, but a reality.
This article first appeared in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.