Hours after Ireland crowns its latest world champion this Saturday, “King” Callum Walsh, the Cork ring phenom hailed as the fastest rising star in boxing, will attempt to advance his own title ambitions when he faces fellow undefeated junior middleweight Fernando Vargas, Jr. in Las Vegas.
The battle of the red-hot southpaws, scheduled for 10 rounds, is the co-main event to the Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford super middleweight mega fight at the Allegiant Stadium. Netflix will stream the card to an anticipated viewing audience of more than 300 million subscribers globally.
Walsh and Vargas will enter the ring hours after the historic world title match between Paddy Donovan and Lewis Crocker for the vacant IBF welterweight crown at Belfast’s Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor. It’s the first world championship match featuring two Irish fighters. DAZN will stream that bout live worldwide.
Lewis Crocker and Paddy Donovan after their fight in March. [Inpho/Laszlo Geczo]
Vegas bookies favor Walsh by odds as wide as 4-1 to get past the hard punching son of former world junior middleweight champion Fernando, Sr., and stay on track for a world title in a division that he’s so far decimated.
A sleek boxer-puncher, Walsh is 14-0 with 11 KOs. The six-footer is ranked #4 by the IBF, #5 by the WBC, #14 by the WBO, and holds the WBC super welterweight Continental Americas title. An inch shorter, Vargas, who at age 28 is fours older than his Irish foe, boasts an equally impressive 17-0 [15 KO] record but is not ranked in the top 15 by any of the major sanctioning bodies.
“It doesn’t get any bigger than being the co-feature to Canelo-Crawford,” Tom Loeffler, Walsh’s promoter, told The Ring Magazine. “You have two young, undefeated, hungry, exciting boxers fighting each other. That’s what boxing needs. They’re both risking their undefeated records. They could easily continue to fight and continue to be undefeated for years to come, but this is a very dangerous fight for both of them.”
For Walsh, who started boxing as age six, it’s just another stepping stone to the next level.
“This is a massive opportunity for me and to be fighting a good opponent,” he told UFC.Com. “It's in front of the world, really. It's going to be a big stage for me to just show my skills and show what I can do."
On the contrary, he believes the occasion might not be in Vargas’ favor.
“I think it'll add a lot of pressure for him, especially carrying his father's name,” Walsh noted. “I think all the pressure is on him to perform and try to be the best he can be, whereas I feel like it's just another fight for me. It's a massive stage, but I don't feel like Fernando Vargas Jr. is the biggest fight of my career. I feel like it's just another stepping stone for me.”
Vargas begs to differ.
“He keeps saying, ‘I fought everyone all over the world’ and ‘Vargas is a stepping stone.’ Alright, we’re just going to have to see,” the underdog told Shawn Porter and Sean Zittel on The PorterWay Podcast. “Some of the best amateurs have not converted to the best of pros. So, you may have fought people from Russia and all these; in the amateurs, that’s three rounds. We’re fighting a 10-round fight. My dad is cooking up a great game plan and I’m coming in confident.”
HISTORIC REMATCH
Billed as “Days Like This” the Paddy Donovan-Lewis Crocker rematch in Belfast carries a world title as the grand prize for the winner on a memorable night for Irish boxing.
Crocker [21-0, 11 KOs] was victorious last time out, albeit in somewhat controversial circumstances when Donovan [14-1, 11 KOs] was disqualified.
“The first fight didn’t feel like a victory,” said Crocker. “I’m focused on me; all the pressure is on him because I can only be better. If Paddy has prepared for the same man he fought in March, he’ll be in for the shock of his life.”
Donovan, however, is confident that he will ruin Crocker’s dream and deliver upon his own when he crosses the border from his native Limerick.
Having worked hard under the expert tutelage of his trainer Andy Lee, Donovan believes he is in even better shape going into the rematch – and he is under no illusions on what he feels will be the eventual outcome.
“It’s my time,” said Donovan, who’s co-managed by New York attorney Keith Sullivan. “I want to meet the best Lewis Crocker, no excuses. This fight has everything: two Irish fighters for the world title in Belfast, it’s what dreams are made of.”
JIM DEBUT
On the undercard at Windsor Park, Paddy’s talented cousin Jim Donovan makes his pro debut at middleweight. He meets Lukasz Szczepaniak [2-1-1, 0 KOs] of Poland in a 4-rounder.
Jim also joins another first cousin, Paddy’s brother super middleweight Edward “The Dominator” Donovan (7-1, 1 KO), in the pro ranks.
“What a stage to make my professional debut,” Jim said. “It’s been a long time coming and I can’t wait for the night I make my pro debut and also the night a world title comes home to the Donovan home. Camp has been going very well.”
