By Jake Donovan
While most regional titles made available for a fight are purely for cosmetic purposes, there is a certain allure to Lonsdale titles bestowed upon British fights.
At no point in its more than 100 years of existence have twin brothers ever simulatenously held such titles. There now exists the chance for history to be made.
Ryan Walsh looks to join his twin brother Liam in the championship circle, when he faces countryman Samir Mouneimne on September 26 at Wembley Stadium in London.
At stake is the vacant British featherweight title, with a win by Ryan making he and Liam the first-ever twins to simultaneously own Lonsdale titles. Liam has held the super featherweight crown since last November and will just two weeks later.
“Twins holding the British title simultaneously has never been achieved so I’m going out there to make history and put our names down in the books,” said Walsh (18-1-1, 8KOs). “It’s certainly not an easy night against Mouneimne, he comes from a good gym and he’ll be up for the job as he’s aiming for his own piece of history by becoming Hull’s first ever British champion.
“But I’m so single minded and totally focussed on beating Mouneimne that nothing will get in the way of me achieving my dream and that of my brother Liam.”
The lone loss of Walsh's career came two years ago in a hard-fought battle with resugent Welsh featherweight Lee Selby, who has since claimed the IBF featherweight crown.
Walsh is still few wins away from competing at the world level, but took away plenty from his lone loss. Having since won two straight against pedestrian competition, it was decided that a fight like this is better suited for his short- and long-term goals.
“Mouneimne’s a good fighter and gets my respect and it will be a great fight, but I’ve got more in every department than he has and it will show on the night," Walsh promises. “I’ve only one loss on my record to Selby and I gave him a rough night. Since that performance no one has wanted to face me, that shows how dangerous I can be.”
A big advantage for Walsh is having his twin brother in his corner, during training (the two fight just one weight class apart) and on his side every step of the way.
“I’m behind Ryan 100 percent and I know he can do it,” believes Liam, an unbeaten super featherweight who faces Troy James on a loaded October 10 bill in Manchester featuring three world title fights. "We never take anything for granted, we train our guts and hearts out for every fight and that makes us winners and seeing how Ryan is preparing for this fight, I believe he can win the British title,”
“I’d love nothing more for him to join me as British champion and create our own piece of boxing history. When you consider the amount of great British boxing brothers in the sport like the Hattons, Smiths, Eubanks, Finnegans and McKenzies, that would be really be something special for the Walshes to be the first ever twins to be British Champions at the same time.”
Topping the September 26 show—which airs on BoxNation in the United Kingdom:
- Fedor Chudinov faces Frank Buglioni in secondary super middleweight title fight;
- Unbeaten contender Ahmet Patterson faces Danny Butler in a bout to determine a mandatory challenger for the British super welterweight title
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com.
Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
Facebook Page: JakeBScene