Callum Walsh is assembling an astonishing résumé of performing some of the most dangerous work known to man and devoting the greatest number of hours possible to his perilous occupations.
He’s done it to perfection thus far, boasting a record of 13-0 (11 KOs) and is world ranked at junior middleweight (No. 6 by the WBC and IBF). The 24-year-old Irish southpaw takes the next step in his promising career as he faces Mexico’s Elias Espadas, 23-6-1 (16 KOs), Their scheduled ten-round contest headlines a UFC Fight Pass show this SAturday from Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California.
Although Walsh first began to box at age six under his father Ian Buckley’s direction, he sought full-time work from the time he was 16. Walsh worked seven days an Irish ocean fishing boat for two years before moving on to become a cargo ships unloader as heavy steel and logs moved above him.
“Very dangerous,” Walsh recalled to BoxingScene after a training session at trainer Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California. “When they’re unloading these steel sheets, hooking it on, watching it load up and move right over your head … it’s crazy to think about if any of this falls. So big. We had these guys moving timber over us with a crane.”
As a fisherman, Walsh routinely awoke around 4 a.m.. He then reported for work and remained on the clock “until we were done,” in an industry ranked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as the most dangerous in terms of fatality rate.
In the evening hours, Walsh would hone his boxing skills. That level of commitment led him to amateur tournaments, and eventually to the decision to choose boxing over fishing.
Still, an invaluable lesson was gained from his earlier jobs.
“Working hard helps me fulfill my dreams and get what I want,” Walsh stated. “That’s why I work so hard. That’s why I take on tough challenges. Because the payoff from it is massive. You put in big work, you’re going to get big results. It’s definitely paying off.”
Trained by Roach and promoted by Tom Loeffler - best known for his incredible work with former world champions Gennadiy Golovkin and Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko- Walsh has another key figure in his corner. He was the first boxer to be promoted by UFC CEO Dana White, who is staging his first Zuffa Boxing Promotion on September 13 in Las Vegas with the Canelo-Alvarez-Terence Crawford event.
“I don’t have anything done at the moment, but I’d be very hopeful that I can maybe fight on the Canelo card,” Walsh said. “With Dana involved, I’ll definitely be asking for it depending on how this fight goes.
“I know they have plans for me. I will ask for it. A closed mouth don’t get fed, you know? So we’ll see. If I can get in there, it’d be nice. I’ll fight any quality opponent.”
First, Walsh has to apply the fruits of his work ethic to Espadas on Saturday night.
The 34-year-old Espadas derailed another young fighter’s high hopes in his last outing. It came just two months ago, when Espadas battled Abel Sanchez-trained prospect Sadriddin Akhmedov to a draw on April 19 at Commerce Casino in California.
In 2022, Espadas fought unbeaten Xander Zayas, losing by fifth-round TKO. Zayas is now set for his first major title fight, when he faces Jorge Garcia for the vacant WBO 154lbs belt on July 26 in New York City.
“Yes, I’m looking forward to testing myself against a very tough opponent with a lot of experience who’s coming off back-to-back quality fights,” Walsh said. “By seeing what I can do, I can have even more confidence in my ability after the fight.”
Walsh is most intrigued in matching his will to win versus Espadas’, knowing the veteran is confronting a career clock.
“Especially against these tough Mexican fighters. When you’re exposed to these tough fighters, I know he’ll be there until the very end, trying to win this fight,” Walsh said. “Let’s see. I believe my power will be effective. He’s durable and tough. With my will to win and power, we’ll see what he’s got.”
Loeffler has previously spoken of seeking to stage a Walsh showdown with Puerto Rico’s Zayas. The pairing is a natural for The Theater at Madison Square Garden, since both have sold out the venue on cards commemorating their homeland’s respective holidays.
“I’m here every day, learning, working hard, getting better, stronger, faster,” Walsh said. “I’m feeling in top shape now, getting ready to take on this challenge.”
Walsh hasn’t needed more than two rounds of work in his past three bouts.
He dusted off Carlos Ortiz Cervantes in the second round at Chumash lat June, then tore through Przemyslaw Runowski in the same amount of time in a Dublin homecoming fight in September.
An even quicker night at the office came in his most recent ring appearance. Irish eyes were smiling as Walsh knocked out Dean Sutherland in the first round of a MSG Theater St.Patrick’s Day weekend card on March 16.
“I believe I’m going in the right direction,” Walsh said. “As long as I make the fight easy, that just goes to show you I’m not your average fighter. I’m levels above.”
Feeling that way is rooted in the incessant dedication to work, and out-working the opposition, since his father told him to do so as a child boxer.
“I realized that if I worked hard, I could get all the things that I wanted. If I had one thing, I was willing to put in the work when it gets tough. I was willing to get the job done to get stuff,” Walsh said.
Those attributes have been identified by the Boston men who so strongly support Walsh: Roach and White.
"In my opinion, the special fighters — the really special fighters – are born to compete. And I mean in anything, not just sports,” Roach said. “They have a need to always win. Callum is that way. He has to win. That's what drives him to train so hard.
“I could see that the first day he came to me at Wild Card to train. It was sparring day and I told him, ‘If you want to work out, you'll have to spar.’ He didn't hesitate and he didn't ask about who he would be sparring against. He just dove into the deep end. I love that attitude. After that, he would come back to Wild Card every day and put in a full day's work without a break. That's the only way I can explain it. He wants to be better than anyone else. You can't teach that."
Walsh said there’s a simple reason for that.
“I’ve worked for everything I have,” he pointed out. Maybe some of it is ‘right place, right time,’ but I’ve put myself in those positions to make it happen. I haven’t been gifted any extra position.”
With eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao back training at Wild Card for his July 19 welterweight title fight against Mario Barrios Jnr, Walsh recalled being drawn to first visit the famed gym as a 15-year-old, when he had just started toiling on the Irish fishing boats.
Walsh bought a souvenir Wild Card T-shirt he’s stored safely inside his grandmother’s home, and gained a personal audience with Roach – commemorated by Roach’s May 20 Instagram post proving the visit.
The session left that indelible impression on the Hall of Fame trainer who’s well aware the Irish have an innate fighting spirit.
“I took a chance to go to Freddie’s gym. Nobody told me, ‘Come here, I’ll give you this,’” Walsh said. “I put myself in these positions, and it’s working out. No one can say I was given anything. I took chances to get here. It was, ‘Take the risk or lose the chance.’ I’ve taken the risk, and now I’ve got the chance.”
Roach and White and Loeffler “can tell if somebody really wants it or not – straight just by looking at me. I’m here to test myself. I’m a very loyal person. I know what they’re doing for me. The way I can give it back is to win and be the best in the world.”
When Walsh returns home to Ireland, he sometimes crosses paths with his former boss on the cargo ships, who won the fighter’s loyalty by providing Walsh the freedom to work around his boxing schedule, to avoid the conflicts that would occur on the fishing boat.
The boss fully understands what kind of employee Walsh is, not too long ago expressing it to the rising title contender, who knows, “I still have a job with the ships if I want it.”
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.