Has life in Hollywood gone to Callum Walsh’s head? In a place long-known for blonde bombshells, Walsh – with his peroxide-infused thatch – is making a name for himself as more of a blonde bomber.
The 22-year-old from Cobh has won seven of his first eight fights in the professional ranks via knockout and the undefeated prospect, who fights out of Freddie Roach’s famous Wild Card Boxing gym on Vine Street just off Sunset Boulevard, is gearing up for the biggest bout of his life at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
'Bronx Beast' Ismael Villarreal (13-1, 9 KOs) lies in wait, as the man who goes by the moniker of 'King’ makes the second defence of his WBC US Silver Super Welterweight title in the main event over 10 rounds.
Just two days later, UFC 295 takes place at the iconic venue, and Walsh will have an invested onlooker watching his fight in the form of Dana White.
The UFC’s head honcho had been looking to become involved with a boxer for some time. A close relationship with 360 Promotions’ Tom Loeffler and Walsh’s early promise piqued White’s interest to such a degree that the County Cork man was offered an endorsement deal with the 'flavoured whiskey partner' of the UFC, while his fights are now broadcast on UFC Fight Pass.
When the fighter tells you that boxing is the priority "right now", it’s a proviso that rings out loudly, and Walsh can’t disguise the lure of the octagon sometime in the future.
The boxing career got off to an inauspicious start, as Walsh told RTÉ Sport, although it proved nothing more than a blip in a stellar junior career.
"I started boxing when I was six years old and it was all I knew – go to the gym, train, fight, and when I turned 11 I had my first fight.
"Funnily enough, I actually lost my first amateur fight, but I kept fighting and kept training, and I kept winning after that.
"When I was 15, I won my first national title, and I won six in a row after that.
"I went to five European Championships and I won a European gold medal. I qualified for the World Championships and I couldn’t go.
"The goal for me was to try and make the Olympic team. In 2019, I ended up losing to Aidan Walsh in the finals of the Elites after having four fights in the Elites at 18 years old. I’d one knockout too.
"That’s when Covid hit and I decided to make the move to LA."
While analysis paralysis gripped many during the pandemic, Walsh’s bold decision to up sticks and seek a new frontier to conquer displayed a maturity beyond his years.
Having shown up at Roach’s gym in LA virtually unannounced, Walsh was thrust into sparring on day one, with his six rounds against a pro enough for the legendary trainer to realise that the Corkman was worth keeping around.
It may be the exuberance of youth, but Walsh regards himself as a fighter without any chinks in his armour, with his amateur exploits now consolidated by sparring against seasoned pros.
"My strengths are coming from a massive amateur background. I’ve had 120 fights back home, with a lot of experience.
"Then coming over here and training with Freddie Roach, who has massive experience in the pros with 20-something world champions, and being able to mix the two styles together is definitely a massive advantage for me.
"I can stand out and fight if I have to, I can move and box if it gets too much.
"I think another strength I have is that I’m very tough. I’ve been around. I’ve sparred a lot. I’ve always done everything the hard way in my life. When sparring, punches… I don’t really feel them. I’ve a good chin, I’ve never been dropped, I’ve never been knocked out.
"I don’t think I’ve many weaknesses. If I do, I’m yet to find out. Maybe the day I find out, I might get knocked out.
"Right now, I’m 22, I’m young, I’m strong and I’m hungry. I’m sparring with the best fighters and I’m doing very well.
"We’ll see if I’ve any weaknesses next week.
"I’ve developed my own unique style. I’ve never watched other fighters and tried to be like them. I’ve always just done my own thing and tried to improve as much as I can.
"A lot of fighters who have fought me have never even seen a style like this. I can do a lot of different things and maybe some weird things that people have never seen before."
'Unique' may be a word bandied about too much, but Walsh’s deal with White is just that for a boxer.
Explaining how it came about, Walsh said: "Tom Loeffler and Dana were working on a deal for UFC Fight Pass and Tom had just signed me, a young Irish fighter, and obviously Dana has a lot of experience with Irish fighters with Conor McGregor.
"He has really the perfect blueprint and the perfect gameplan, so Tom brought me to Dana in Vegas for my 21st birthday.
"I met with Dana, we talked and we watched a couple of my fights, and after that he saw me fight a couple of times and he came on board with the Howler Head whiskey sponsorship.
"After that, he saw me fight more and more, and I think Dana realised how good I really am, and that I don’t care who I fight and I want to take on tough challenges.
"I’m bringing that kind of UFC mentality – where the best fight the best – to boxing, and it doesn’t matter.
"I think that’s why Dana doesn’t get involved in boxing. But he sees I’m not your average boxer. I’m going to be different and do big things in the sport and that’s why he come on board with me."
Holly Holm aside, boxers transitioning to MMA have met with limited success. It’s a potential future challenge Walsh delights in discussing.
"I have, definitely," he responds when probed over how much serious consideration he’s given the switch.
"I’ve watched MMA and UFC since I was 11 years old. I’ve never really watched much boxing. I’ve always watched the UFC since Conor McGregor was in there.
"I remember coming up, when I was 16, 17, 18, 19, my friends and I would meet up every time there was UFC on and we’d all watch it.
"Now that I'm involved with the UFC, I train with a lot of UFC fighters. It’s definitely something I want to do.
"A lot of fighters come from the UFC or MMA and they try to fight against boxers, but maybe I can be the one to go from boxing into the UFC and do it seriously, try to have a serious career.
"I respect the sport enough to know that I can’t just walk in there and try to do it for the sake of doing it.
"If I’m going to do it, it will be years of training and then try to have a serious career.
"Since I’m only 22, boxing is going to be my main priority right now, but like I said, I train with a lot of UFC fighters.
"I’ll keep cross-training and keep learning new things when I’m not in serious fight camps and we’ll see what’s going to happen down the line.
"I’ve trained with Tony Ferguson a lot this past three years and recently I started doing some jiu-jitsu.
"After this fight, when I’m not in serious camp, I’ll take it a bit more seriously until I’m in camp again.
"That’s one thing – you just need to be very careful that you don’t get injured.
"I like to learn new things, even if I’m not going to use it, but I think I will."
Crossover match-ups in recent years have drawn disdain and rebuke from boxing purists, but sport is an industry. The market – particularly the younger market – has embraced these bouts in big enough numbers to signal that they’re here to stay.
Cognisant of the fact, Walsh’s outlook is aptly agile in this age of disruption. His burgeoning social media following and growing profile should see him well-placed to take whatever opportunities come his way, whether that’s in the squared circle or an octagonal one.
"Boxing is my number one priority right now," Walsh reiterates. "I want to win as much as I can in boxing and make my money and make myself a name, so that I’m big enough that I can do whatever I want.
"If I want to try and get a freak fight, a boxer going to the UFC, I want to be big enough to be able to say to Dana, 'look, I’m a big name and I want to give it a go’."
Callum Walsh takes on Ismael Villareal at Madison Square Garden on 9 November live on UFC Fight Pass
