"King" Callum Walsh crowned WBC USA Silver champion
22-year-old "King" Callum Walsh (7-0, 6KO), trained by Freddie Roach, was cut on his right eye from an accidental headbutt in the third round, but the rising Irish star dropped Carson Jones (43-16-3, 31KO) with a body shot in the fourth at Hollywood's Commerce Casino, broadcast live on UFC Fight Pass.
Trained by Abel Sanchez, Jones was stopped standing after Walsh hit him with a dozen unanswered punches. 36-year-old Carson had won his last three fights on the spin before meeting the Cork combatant.
With scepter like majesty emitting from one hand and veritable, baleful shillelagh clout radiating from the other, “The King” subjected the man from Oklahoma to an array of rolling body punches, then switching upstairs to head. An accidental clash of heads in round three opened a small cut on Callum's left eyebrow, which, after the action had subsided and the fight was over, was neatly closed with just six stitches. Callum then bloodied Carson's nose and upped the tempo, so much so that Carson was courting impending defeat, going out on his shield.
Crunching body shots made Carson wince and take a knee. He bravely got up by was royally overwhelmed and Referee Eddie Hernandez saved him, stopping the fight in the fourth.
Tom Loeffler of 360 Promotions said: “Callum showed his world class, fighting a tough veteran, who had lost before, but no one had ever taken him out in just four rounds, which Callum did. So, it was a huge step up for Callum, a great title victory. The first of many!
“Callum really showed poise and expertise beyond his years, the way he reacted to being cut. He continued to fight intelligently and strategically finishing the fight in style.”
Mike Rodriguez did an excellent job as Cut Man in Callum's corner. After the fight, renown plastic surgeon Dr Pearlman Hicks closed the wound with six stiches. Callum's next fight is August 26th and Dr Hicks says he'll be fine by then. Years earlier Dr Hicks treated and healed the wound of Vitali Klitschko from the eyelid cut inflicted by Lennox Lewis. That had taken sixty-three stiches to close.
Tom enthused and predicted: “The sky is the limit for Callum. When you have a twenty-two-year-old fighter, with such a brilliant amateur background but also fanbase. We had people flying in from Ireland to see him fight. When he fought in Boston, that was understandable. But LA is a much longer trip, so Callum's fanbase is definitely growing, at such an early stage of his career. And we have such high expectations. He will defend his WBC title in August, and he`ll keep developing as well as maturing.
“Callum is the whole package. Great amateur experience, extraordinary punching power, great ring IQ, and you combine that with the charisma in and out of the ring plus his fanbase, his confidence, his social media presence. Connor McGregor gave him a big shot out on social media before the fight. So, with his support, Dana White's support, with his fanbase, Fight Pass and now being a WBC Champion, he's got the whole gamut to become a huge star in Boxing!”
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