LAS VEGAS – One of the traits beyond his skill that Callum Walsh is banking on to achieve his boxing ambition is being true to himself.
The undefeated Irish fighter Walsh has been groomed for several years by Zuffa Boxing head Dana White, aiming toward Friday night’s main event of the first Zuffa card in its Paramount+ streaming deal.
Now the 24-year-old, left-handed Walsh, 15-0 (11 KOs), has a golden opportunity to leave a significant impression in his middleweight bout versus former welterweight title challenger Carlos Ocampo, 38-3 (26 KOs).
“Definitely, it’d be nice to go in there and get the knockout,” Walsh told BoxingScene on Thursday minutes after weighing in. “Either way, a win is a win – as long as I don’t lose. But I would like to get in there, perform, get the knockout and be happy. That’s the main thing.”
This is where the honesty comes in.
Because Walsh was previously granted a major stage in his previous bout, a 10-round unanimous decision victory over then-unbeaten Fernando Vargas Jnr in the co-main event to the Terence Crawford-Saul “Canelo” Alvarez undisputed super middleweight bout on Netflix at the NFL’s Allegiant Stadium here.
Not only did Walsh-Vargas have the misfortune of following the Fight of the Year candidate pitting unbeaten super middleweights Lester Martinez and Christian Mbilli, it took place as the massive crowd was filling in – and began expressing their disinterest.
“No, I wasn’t [happy],” Walsh said. “I didn’t think it was a great performance, didn’t think I had the best camp.”
It led Walsh to part with Hall of Fame trainer and shift gyms across Southern California to work with Roach proteges Marvin Somodio and Dickie Ecklund Jnr at Brickhouse Boxing.
“Considering some of the reasons [for the September showing], I did decide to make the [trainer] change because I didn’t have the best camp,” Walsh said. “I didn’t really feel like I was prepared for that fight and the performance showed that.
“I’ll be looking forward to this one to make up for the last one.”
Walsh has proven power after stopping three consecutive opponents before the second round in 2024 and 2025, and he has been around wise enough boxing men to know styles can lead to less-than-sensational fights, but he was accountable in detailing why the Vargas bout was unacceptable in his mind.
“I understand that, but on a stage like that, you want to go out there and perform at your best,” he said. “I understand you won’t every time, but I could have if I performed better.”
Because Zuffa Boxing is staging bouts in the main weight classes, not the junior middleweight division, where Walsh is ranked in the top 10 by WBO, IBF and WBC, he said the move to 160 made weight cutting “easy,” he expects to shine against a foe who has been knocked out in the first round by Spence and former 154lbs champion Tim Tszyu.
“I’m very excited. There’ll only be one ‘first,’ and I’m the first main event,” Walsh said. “It’s a massive opportunity for me.
“It was only natural that I would be the first main event considering how long I’ve been around Dana and the UFC. I’ve definitely earned this spot. It’s a big [fight] weekend, and I’m looking forward to going in there and performing.”
For now, Zuffa Boxing is keeping its future title contenders like Walsh busy without designating this a Zuffa title fight, something Walsh expects to participate in by year’s end.
The immediate future consists of defeating Ocampo and retreating to his farm home in Ventura County, California, where he just added a new animal – a horse.
He laughed at the suggestion that if he wins impressively Friday, he’s first in line for the first Zuffa middleweight title bout.
“That’s down the road. This is just a normal fight,” Walsh said. “I need to get over Friday night and see what happens.”
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.
