Unbeaten Irish middleweight contender Callum Walsh faces former European champion Tyler Denny at the 3Arena in Dublin on Saturday live on Sky Sports. The bout represents a key test as Walsh looks to break through into the highest echelons of the middleweight division.
Walsh welcomes the challenge of facing a dangerous opponent. "I'm ready for anybody. I love to challenge myself. I love to fight," Walsh told Sky Sports. "Just tell me when. That's it."
The fight takes place on the Zuffa Boxing 10 bill, which is headlined by Aaron McKenna against Etinosa Oliha. Ahead of the event, McKenna plans to target Chris Eubank Jr and others after a dream world title fight. Musician Danny O'Donoghue from The Script also looked ahead to Walsh's fight on the Dublin card.
Return to Dublin
The 25-year-old Irishman is returning to the 3Arena for his first fight in Dublin since knocking out Przemyslaw Runowski in two rounds in 2024. Walsh described that fight as one of the best nights of his life.
"It was one of the best nights of my life. Walking out in front of that crowd was insane," the 25-year-old said. "It looks like there was 20,000 people there and it felt like there was 20,000 people there. It was crazy. I can't even describe it."
Walsh expressed full confidence ahead of Saturday's match against Denny. "I just believe in my own ability. I just believe if I've trained and prepared to my best I can beat anybody," he said.
Dangerous Work in Cork
Before turning professional, Walsh worked on fishing boats as a teenager in Cork. He got the job randomly because he did not want to work indoors, taking on a demanding profession with severe physical risks.
"I got this fishing job just randomly, I didn't want to work anywhere inside," Walsh remembered. "It was seven days a week, it was hard work, it wasn't easy but the best job ever in the summer, when it's sunny and you can jump off the boat and swim. You start at four o'clock in the morning. It was very hard [work]. The worst thing [was] the storms."
His duties involved hauling crab and lobster pots onto the deck, rebaiting them, and sending them back down pulled by their anchor. Stacking the pots incorrectly created extreme danger.
"If you stack them in the wrong order, you're [in trouble]. The whole boat is going to go. Crazy. It's dangerous work," Walsh explained. "If they're in the wrong order you're going to have rope all over the place, there's going to be stuff flying. You're going to get tangled up, you're going to get dragged overboard, dragged down with them. Even if it's four or five o'clock in the morning you have to be switched on."
Walsh recalled a specific incident where a mistake nearly cost him his leg. "[One time] I put them back in the wrong order, my leg got trapped on the side of the boat between the rope and the boat, but we were able to get the boat in reverse quick and I was able to get my leg out. Stuff like that is very dangerous if you don't know what you're doing."
Sparring at Wild Card Gym
Throughout his youth, Walsh pursued a decorated amateur career, winning medals domestically and internationally. He then chose professional boxing and moved to Los Angeles to train at Freddie Roach's famous Wild Card gym.
Roach forced Walsh to prove himself immediately by throwing him into sparring on his first day. "If you want to train here, you have to spar.' He [Roach] wanted to see if I was even worth being there. I sparred the first day and he told me to come back again tomorrow," Walsh said.
Walsh sparred everyone for a year before making his professional debut. Roach's gym is known for tough sparring, a reputation Roach takes pride in.
"Someone will come in [to the Wild Card] for sparring, you know that they're not really supposed to be there," Walsh continued. "Freddie would tell you: 'Show this guy he's not supposed to be here.' I've knocked so many people out in that gym, I've seen so many people not come back. That's how it is. Freddie Roach's gym is known for being one of the best gyms in the world, known for tough sparring and Freddie he takes pride in that."
Walsh credits his California training with blending his amateur background with an aggressive professional style. "Coming from a massive amateur background, to learning the pro style and how aggressive his pro style is. I think it's the perfect combination," Walsh said. "Being able to go over to Freddie and learn that aggressive pro style from someone who's had so much experience, I think it's the perfect mixture."
