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 tomorrow 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 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.
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