Callum Walsh may come across as a cool customer, but there are things that wind up the Irish middleweight. Fortunately, they aren’t things that will affect his performance inside the Zuffa Boxing ring.
Undefeated middleweight Walsh is set to feature in the co-main event of Zuffa Boxing 10, which takes place Saturday night at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. It’s a big night for Walsh and his family, and he’s excited to come home and put on a show on home soil.
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“Yeah, it's great,” he told UFC.com ahead of his bout this weekend. “I love to be back here in Ireland. This is where I'm from. This is where I was born. This is where I belong. I love this country, and I've been back here for about a week now already. I was back in Cork, in my hometown, back in my home gym, and yeah, it means a lot to me to be back here and to put on a show for the Irish fans.”
Walsh was a budding talent in Ireland, looking for a big break, when the COVID pandemic struck and caused chaos across the globe. It was in that chaos that a moment of inspiration arrived, as Walsh decided to head across the pond to the United States and Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Boxing gym in Los Angeles.
“It was just the middle of COVID [and] there was nothing happening,” he recalled. “I was at home doing nothing, and I always felt like I needed to do more, and I needed to do something. So, I took a chance, and here we are now.”
It sparked a relationship between Walsh and Roach that helped build his skills while getting top-quality work in at the famed California gym. The boxing opportunities soon followed through promoter Tom Loeffler. That led to Walsh meeting Dana White, and through that relationship, Walsh’s profile went to new heights. And, when Zuffa Boxing became a reality, Walsh was a natural fit.
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However, while there was little surprise from the outside when he was named in the historic main event of Zuffa Boxing 01, Walsh himself didn’t realize he was set for top billing until much closer to the fight.
“It was funny, because I didn't even know I was the main event until… I'm sure it was fight week,” he recalled. “They were like, ‘Oh, how do you feel being main event?’ I was like, ‘I'm the main event?’ I just show up and fight. I just fight people for money. I don't know – I just show up!
“But seriously though, what an honor to be the first ever main event for Zuffa Boxing. You can see how far it's come already from the very first Zuffa Boxing [event]. Everybody was criticizing it, and now they're signing absolutely everybody. You know we’re at Zuffa Boxing 10 now, and it has grown so much; it has everybody talking about it. So yeah, there'll only ever be one first, and that was me. It'll always be me.”
Walsh’s latest test comes in the form of former European champion Tyler Denny, with the Englishman making the short trip across to Dublin in a bid to spoil the Irish party.
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“He's a real man; he's a real person. I’ve just seen him yesterday, so he's definitely real!” Walsh grinned. “So that makes it a real fight, you know what I mean? When you actually see the person, you know that he's been on the other side of the world, training for the last however many weeks to fight me, preparing for me, and I've been preparing for him. So that makes it a real fight with anybody. You can't underestimate any opponent. Take every fight very seriously, and it's definitely a real fight. And yeah, I'm looking forward to getting it out the way and moving on to the next one.”
Walsh’s partner is UFC women’s strawweight contender Tabatha Ricci, who competed in the Octagon recently. It meant both members of the fighting couple were in training camp at the same time. But when it comes to which of them is the most intense around the house during camp, Walsh held his hand up and admitted it was him.
“It’s probably me,” he laughed. “I actually have anger problems over the dumbest s*** ever. The fridge turned on the other day. Our fridge does this stupid thing where it talks. You'll say something, and the fridge is like, ‘Oh, I didn't understand.’ I was like, ‘We're not talking to you. Shut up and turn off!’ And [Tabatha] was like, "You're talking to the fridge!’ I was like, ‘It keeps talking to me!’ … Because I leave the house early in the morning, I don't get back till evening time, and then [Tabatha] is telling me to do all these jobs and stuff, and then the fridge is talking to me, too. You know, it's like ‘Jesus…’ Yeah, so it’s probably me!”
For Walsh, who started out plying his trade working on fishing boats before finding fame inside the boxing ring, it’s been a rollercoaster ride that at times he can barely believe is real. But it is, and he’s clearly determined to enjoy every moment, despite the surreal nature of how things have played out over recent years.
“You know, every day I wake up, I open my eyes and make sure I'm still in a hotel, or still in my house in LA,” he said. “You know, it's like I'm waiting to just wake up and be back on the boats, you know? It just feels crazy. It’s just weird. Life is so weird when you think about it. I’ll get deep into this now! Honestly, all life is weird. When you just look up even at the sky and stuff, you're like, how are we even here? And then when you think about like how stuff happens, you know? Like you'll randomly think of something, and then an opportunity will present itself, and it's just weird.
“Life is just very strange, and I do believe in manifestation and all that stuff, and I believe I did a lot of that to get to where I am now, and life is weird. It doesn't feel real at times, you know? When you really step back and look at it, to see where I am now after basically coming from such a small town and being here – it’s strange. We’re all just floating around on a rock. It’s mad!”
Walsh will hope to make a little more sense of things after Saturday night, when he hopes to have a win over Denny on his record. It promises to be a wild night at the 3Arena, and Walsh hopes to take all of that passionate Irish energy in the building that night and put it to good use to claim his 17th professional victory.
“I'll harness it a bit, you know?” he said. “Walking out, I definitely feel that fighting Irish spirit that will be in the crowd that night. But yeah, it's something that you kind of have to not take in too much.
