Things you didn’t know about Kevin Walsh?
Michael Conlan (20-3, 10 KOs) heads home to Belfast for a showdown with unbeaten American Kevin Walsh (19-0, 10 KOs), live on DAZN on Friday, March 20 at the SSE Arena.
The 34-year-old “Irish Mick” headlines the MF Pro show in a defence of his WBC International featherweight title against a man who has stopped five of his last seven opponents.
But who is the visitor from across the pond? BBN found out as much info on Kevin Walsh as possible below.
Kevin Walsh
Kevin Walsh was born September 8, 1992 in Brockton, Massachusetts, America.
He has three older sisters. His father taught him how to fight from an early age so that he had the ability to protect his family. The father and son trained in their basement where there was a punch bag, boxing gloves, Muay Thai gloves, pads, and weights.
Tragedy struck when Kevin was just 17-years-old when his beloved father sadly suffered a brain injury after being attacked and later died of his injuries. Kevin was left heartbroken, “He was my best friend and that was the first and worst type of pain I ever felt.”
After his father’s death, the troubled youth spent time in juvenile detention in his teens and prison during his 20s. He described his former self as a menace to society and admits he was caught up in drug deals, robberies, stick-ups, street fights, shootings, overdoses, police chases.
During his incarceration, he began boxing training. Any form of fighting wasn’t encouraged in prison, but he made mitts out of a bible, stuffing from his pillow, and bedsheets. He also made handwraps from his bedsheets. He was 23-years-old when he decided to turn his life around and put his fighting skills to good use.
He had around 20 amateur bouts where he won the 2018 Southern New England Golden Gloves Novices, 2019 Southern New England Golden Gloves Elites, 2020 Southern New England Golden Gloves Elites.
“King Kev” is signed to Jimmy Burchfield Sr. of CES Boxing.
Walsh won his pro debut in May 2021 in just 170 seconds. He won his first three fights via first-round knockouts.
He became the USA New England lightweight champion in his 12th bout in March 2024. He won the same title at super-featherweight eight months later. He has three USA New England belts in total.
He is a two-time WBC USA Silver featherweight champion.
Kev says that he has won 10 titles so far in his boxing journey, five amateur and five pro titles.
He was nominated for CES Fighter of the Year 2025 and Fight of the Year 2025.
Walsh has defeated a world title contender, Tramaine Williams, via split decision in May 2025.
His 19 opponents’ combined records adds up to 138-123-7.
Before agreeing to fight Conlan, Walsh was calling out WBA world featherweight champion, Nick Ball.
His BoxRec ranking at featherweight is USA #13 / World #63. He is also ranked WBC #29 and IBO #56.
The featherweight champion is 5′ 7″ tall with a 65″ reach.
He has 32k followers on Instagram.
His alias is “King” and has a huge tattoo on his left arm of two boxing gloves sandwiched between the words ‘King Kev’.
In November 2024, he was the guest of honour a parade through his hometown, cheered on by the locals and even celebrated by the police who he used to run from.
He drives a Mercedes CLS 550.
The 33-year-old is sponsored by Rockland Recovery, an alcohol addiction treatment centre in Rockland, Massachusetts. He is also sponsored by Tommy Doyle’s at Sidelines, a pub and grill in Brockton.
