CALLUM WALSH deserves the Hollywood treatment as he returns home for his Dublin debut.
That is the verdict of heavyweight pal Thomas Carty, who will box on his undercard at the 3Arena.
Cork fighter Walsh upped sticks during the pandemic to move to Tinseltown and turn pro.
He rocked up in the famed Wild Card Gym and was thrown straight into tough sparring bouts by trainer Freddie Roach.
‘King Callum’ did enough to earn the legendary coach’s respect, who quickly agreed to work his corner from then on.
And Walsh has shown his worth with 11 straight wins, attracting a heavy-hitting team to come on board along with Roach.
Fight boss Tom Loeffler, who worked with the Klitschko brothers and middleweight great Gennady Golovkin, is his promoter.
And UFC chief Dana White is also heavily involved, having been impressed by the 23-year-old’s style and personality.
Now they descend on the Docklands tonight, with Walsh thrown in against Poland’s Przemyslaw Runowski for his homecoming bout.
Carty, who will face Argentina’s Jonathan Exequiel Vergara (6-1) on the bill, said: “Unbelievable, I can do nothing but applaud the bloke.
“I remember when he was moving, watching it day by day.
“I’d be friendly enough with Callum and remember saying, ‘He’s mad, all the way to the States for training’ and look at him now – that’s a Netflix series waiting to happen, 100 per cent.
“That’s really, really impressive what he’s done. He’s broken the mould, broken away and is not following anybody’s blueprint. He’s following his own, isn’t he?
“Nothing gifted, he grafted for it all. And there are no bums on his record.”
Roach has previously worked with Irish fighters such as Wayne McCullough, Steve Collins and Bernard Dunne and he believes Walsh is Ireland’s next world champion.
Carty agrees that he carries the X-factor in both fists, saying: “It’s hard to quantify what ‘it’ is but he seems to have it all right.
“He’s the full package. Regardless of me being a boxer, I might be biased, but I’ll be supporting him all the way. I really, genuinely respect what he’s done.”
The headliner is one of several top Irish prospects in the 147 to 154lb range.
Paddy Donovan, Lewis Crocker, Kieran Molloy, Caoimhin Agyarko and Stevie McKenna are all in that mix and making moves towards title shots.
Carty said: “It’s fantastic. We’re in a great age for boxing at the moment. It’s to be enjoyed and we really should be.
“The signs of what’s coming are really, really positive.
“We’re in a great stage where there’s always young talent coming through and plenty for people to be getting excited about and getting to these cards to support.”
DERBY DELIGHTS
While he will be backstage preparing for his own fight, he is excited about two derby battles that also fill out the card.
Celtic Warriors Gum mate Craig O’Brien, 34, has ten years on Paddy’s brother Edward Donovan and will look to use all his experience to win the Dublin v Limerick battle.
Another capital boxer, Emmet Brennan, will likewise hope his years with the high performance unit, culminating in an appearance at Tokyo 2020, will be too much for Kerry’s Kevin Cronin.
Carty added: “The first one came out of left field. Great fight. Two great lads.
“Obviously Edward comes from a great boxing family while Craig O’Brien has an amazing story, amazing bloke and it’ll be a fantastic fight, I’m looking forward to that one myself.
“I won’t be able to watch much because I’ll have my own fight to worry about.
“I won’t be sharing a dressing room with him either! No – I said already I want all separate.
“There’ll be bottles of water going missing with them townies, no chance. I don’t want to be guilty by association, let them do their own thing!
“It’s a difficult one to call. One coming up and one close to the end.
“The other one is another great fight. I’ll be backing Emmet in that one, experience-wise I just think he’ll have too much, but fair play to Kevin for taking the fight.
“The gap in experience is massive there but this is pro boxing, everybody thinks they can make up the gaps in another department so fair play to the lads.
“It’s a great fight to have on the card – especially for the Irish public that know.”
