CALLUM WALSH PASSED the trickiest test of his almost-five-year professional boxing career, earning a unanimous-decision victory over England’s former European champion Tyler Denny at Dublin’s 3Arena.
Cork man Walsh was forced to pick himself off the canvas from an unusual-looking knockdown in the first round before dropping Denny hard in the second, and he cruised from that point onwards to win on scores of 98-91 x2 and 96-90.
In the co-main event to Aaron McKenna’s middleweight world-title fight against Italy’s Etinosa Oliha, the 25-year-old Walsh, now 17-0 (11KOs), was fighting for the second time in the same division, 160 lbs: his promoters Zuffa Boxing, run by his long-time sponsor and ostensible co-promoter, UFC president Dana White, don’t recognise the light-middleweight category (154lbs) that would appear to better fit his physique.
A decade younger than his opponent, the 25-year-old Cobh native faced a career-long middleweight in Denny (now 23-4-4, 1KO), who, in recent years, has sullied the undefeated records of several unbeaten up-and-comers in the UK, including the heavily fancied Felix Cash in a European title clash in 2024.
Despite touching the canvas in unusual fashion in the first round, Walsh was well worth the wide gap on the judges’ scorecards.
His points victory did little to whet the appetite for a world-title assault on the winner of Saturday night’s middleweight main event between Aaron McKenna and Etinosa Oliha, albeit Walsh’s team may feel he’s a few fights shy of trying his hand at world level in any case.
‘King Callum’ began with typical, high-paced aggression and landed significant blows on Denny before he found himself on the canvas in the opening round.
The knockdown awarded to Denny was bizarre-looking but fair, with Walsh bent over awkwardly under an attack and touching the canvas with his glove as Denny tried to force him downwards with both punches and his body weight. Walsh laughed off the ‘knockdown’ when it was scored by referee Emile Tiedt, who was within his rights to do so.
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Walsh resumed his previous tempo and, in the second, he sent Denny sprawling to the canvas with a powerful counter left hook. The man from England’s West Midlands, his legs initially wobbly as he peeled himself off the floor, showed excellent conditioning to regain solid footing before long. The fight became one-way traffic from that point onwards.
Denny, while conspicuously the larger man, has just one knockout victory to his name, giving Walsh little cause to respect his power. Once Walsh equally proved himself the superior technical boxer, his victory became inevitable and processionary.
Walsh, however, didn’t exactly light the 3Arena on fire, his left-handed attacks from the southpaw stance routinely flying over the head of the tricky customer bent over opposite him. He was unable to capture the lightning in the bottle that was his second-round knockdown, instead cruising as far as the seventh, when he dropped his hands entirely and began to tee off on Denny with greater volume.
Referee Tiedt deducted each boxer a point, simultaneously, in the eighth — Walsh for holding, apparently, which drew boos from the home audience, and Denny for use of his head, which also seemed harsh. It was a pointless piece of grandstanding by the referee, although it at least annoyed Walsh to sufficient extent that, upon the resumption, he unleashed arguably his best flurry of the bout, briefly troubling his opponent who was intent only on survival at this juncture.
The wily Englishman spoiled his way home, while a head clash opened a deep-looking cut on Walsh’s left eyebrow in the ninth.
Walsh attempted to pour it on Denny at the end of the 10th and final round, landing several thudding shots, but his power has not yet carried up from 154 pounds to 160, and the visitor again weathered what was more of a gust than a storm.
It was a fine win on paper for Walsh against a crafty veteran with a penchant for upset victories, but some of the momentum the Cork man had built as an explosive 154-pounder has certainly been lost up at 160.
Joe Ward lands a jab on Artjom Kasparian. Gary Carr / INPHO
Gary Carr / INPHO / INPHO
In the third-last bout of the evening, meanwhile, Irish amateur legend Joe Ward (now 13-1, 8KOs) returned from a two-year absence to earn a career-best victory over English-based, Russian-Dutch knockout artist Artjom Kasparian (14-1, 12KOs).
Light-heavyweight Ward, a three-time European amateur champion and three-time World Championship silver medallist, overcame visible ring-rust to inflict a first career defeat on Kasparian, the Dublin crowd roaring him through a hairy second third of the bout as he rallied to a unanimous-decision victory (97-93 x2, 96-94).
In an entertaining back and forth, the 32-year-old Ward started with customary technical class, outboxing Kasparian with excellent precision and timing. After Round 3, however, Ward suddenly appeared exhausted, his mouth hanging open, and Kasparian put him in a blender from which there briefly appeared no escape.
While Ward was never truly hurt, the away fighter found a home for several heavy shots between the third round and the halfway point, with Ward almost tripping over his front foot as he grew desperate to return serve.
But the Westmeath man, a former Olympian, found a timely second wind, removing himself from tricky positions on the ropes and using his vastly superior footwork to find the angles from which he could hurt Kasparian.
The Moate native turned entirely altered the trajectory of the fight, taking Kasparian to the brink on several occasions from Round 6 onwards.
In doing so, he will hopefully alter the trajectory of his career, which has appeared directionless and poorly managed over the last couple of years. Zuffa Boxing, however, who awarded Ward a $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus, will be keen to unleash their sleeping giant on the light-heavyweight division again soon.
Earlier, Stevie McKenna (17-1, 16KOs), the older brother of Saturday’s headliner and world-title challenger Aaron, took just 70 seconds to dispose of an overmatched Owen O’Neill (14-3, 1KOs).
‘The Hitman’, now also campaigning at middleweight, forced the towel from O’Neill’s corner, beginning like a buzz-saw before lifting the already-off-balance Belfast man off his feet and dropping him to the canvas with a right hand upstairs. With their boxer having already taken a shellacking, O’Neill’s corner waved the white flag as soon as their boxer hit the deck.
The elder McKenna brother subsequently called for a fight against Callum Walsh, who, at that point, was yet to perform. The idea was met with rapturous acclaim by those in attendance in the early evening. Indeed, for the moment, it might make more sense than a clash between Walsh and Aaron McKenna, who will shortly attempt to become a middleweight world champion.
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Callum Walsh eases past Tyler Denny, while Joe Ward regains momentum with career-best victory
CALLUM WALSH PASSED the trickiest test of his almost-five-year professional boxing career, earning a unanimous-decision victory over England’s former European champion Tyler Denny at Dublin’s 3Arena.
Cork man Walsh was forced to pick himself off the canvas from an unusual-looking knockdown in the first round before dropping Denny hard in the second, and he cruised from that point onwards to win on scores of 98-91 x2 and 96-90.
In the co-main event to Aaron McKenna’s middleweight world-title fight against Italy’s Etinosa Oliha, the 25-year-old Walsh, now 17-0 (11KOs), was fighting for the second time in the same division, 160 lbs: his promoters Zuffa Boxing, run by his long-time sponsor and ostensible co-promoter, UFC president Dana White, don’t recognise the light-middleweight category (154lbs) that would appear to better fit his physique.
A decade younger than his opponent, the 25-year-old Cobh native faced a career-long middleweight in Denny (now 23-4-4, 1KO), who, in recent years, has sullied the undefeated records of several unbeaten up-and-comers in the UK, including the heavily fancied Felix Cash in a European title clash in 2024.
Despite touching the canvas in unusual fashion in the first round, Walsh was well worth the wide gap on the judges’ scorecards.
His points victory did little to whet the appetite for a world-title assault on the winner of Saturday night’s middleweight main event between Aaron McKenna and Etinosa Oliha, albeit Walsh’s team may feel he’s a few fights shy of trying his hand at world level in any case.
‘King Callum’ began with typical, high-paced aggression and landed significant blows on Denny before he found himself on the canvas in the opening round.
The knockdown awarded to Denny was bizarre-looking but fair, with Walsh bent over awkwardly under an attack and touching the canvas with his glove as Denny tried to force him downwards with both punches and his body weight. Walsh laughed off the ‘knockdown’ when it was scored by referee Emile Tiedt, who was within his rights to do so.
Walsh resumed his previous tempo and, in the second, he sent Denny sprawling to the canvas with a powerful counter left hook. The man from England’s West Midlands, his legs initially wobbly as he peeled himself off the floor, showed excellent conditioning to regain solid footing before long. The fight became one-way traffic from that point onwards.
Denny, while conspicuously the larger man, has just one knockout victory to his name, giving Walsh little cause to respect his power. Once Walsh equally proved himself the superior technical boxer, his victory became inevitable and processionary.
Walsh, however, didn’t exactly light the 3Arena on fire, his left-handed attacks from the southpaw stance routinely flying over the head of the tricky customer bent over opposite him. He was unable to capture the lightning in the bottle that was his second-round knockdown, instead cruising as far as the seventh, when he dropped his hands entirely and began to tee off on Denny with greater volume.
Referee Tiedt deducted each boxer a point, simultaneously, in the eighth — Walsh for holding, apparently, which drew boos from the home audience, and Denny for use of his head, which also seemed harsh. It was a pointless piece of grandstanding by the referee, although it at least annoyed Walsh to sufficient extent that, upon the resumption, he unleashed arguably his best flurry of the bout, briefly troubling his opponent who was intent only on survival at this juncture.
The wily Englishman spoiled his way home, while a head clash opened a deep-looking cut on Walsh’s left eyebrow in the ninth.
Walsh attempted to pour it on Denny at the end of the 10th and final round, landing several thudding shots, but his power has not yet carried up from 154 pounds to 160, and the visitor again weathered what was more of a gust than a storm.
It was a fine win on paper for Walsh against a crafty veteran with a penchant for upset victories, but some of the momentum the Cork man had built as an explosive 154-pounder has certainly been lost up at 160.
In the third-last bout of the evening, meanwhile, Irish amateur legend Joe Ward (now 13-1, 8KOs) returned from a two-year absence to earn a career-best victory over English-based, Russian-Dutch knockout artist Artjom Kasparian (14-1, 12KOs).
Light-heavyweight Ward, a three-time European amateur champion and three-time World Championship silver medallist, overcame visible ring-rust to inflict a first career defeat on Kasparian, the Dublin crowd roaring him through a hairy second third of the bout as he rallied to a unanimous-decision victory (97-93 x2, 96-94).
In an entertaining back and forth, the 32-year-old Ward started with customary technical class, outboxing Kasparian with excellent precision and timing. After Round 3, however, Ward suddenly appeared exhausted, his mouth hanging open, and Kasparian put him in a blender from which there briefly appeared no escape.
While Ward was never truly hurt, the away fighter found a home for several heavy shots between the third round and the halfway point, with Ward almost tripping over his front foot as he grew desperate to return serve.
But the Westmeath man, a former Olympian, found a timely second wind, removing himself from tricky positions on the ropes and using his vastly superior footwork to find the angles from which he could hurt Kasparian.
The Moate native turned entirely altered the trajectory of the fight, taking Kasparian to the brink on several occasions from Round 6 onwards.
In doing so, he will hopefully alter the trajectory of his career, which has appeared directionless and poorly managed over the last couple of years. Zuffa Boxing, however, who awarded Ward a $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus, will be keen to unleash their sleeping giant on the light-heavyweight division again soon.
Earlier, Stevie McKenna (17-1, 16KOs), the older brother of Saturday’s headliner and world-title challenger Aaron, took just 70 seconds to dispose of an overmatched Owen O’Neill (14-3, 1KOs).
‘The Hitman’, now also campaigning at middleweight, forced the towel from O’Neill’s corner, beginning like a buzz-saw before lifting the already-off-balance Belfast man off his feet and dropping him to the canvas with a right hand upstairs. With their boxer having already taken a shellacking, O’Neill’s corner waved the white flag as soon as their boxer hit the deck.
The elder McKenna brother subsequently called for a fight against Callum Walsh, who, at that point, was yet to perform. The idea was met with rapturous acclaim by those in attendance in the early evening. Indeed, for the moment, it might make more sense than a clash between Walsh and Aaron McKenna, who will shortly attempt to become a middleweight world champion.
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