Ireland’s second-youngest professional may be one of the most mature.
Teenage Pug Liam Walsh [3(1)-0-1]he hit an early bump with Russian gruff Vasif Mamedov at Doncaster last time out, but has taken the bump in stride and hasn’t let it derail him anyway.
The young prospect admits the draw hurt him at the time and may still be a catalyst for frustration. However, he is glad that he learned a great lesson without tasting defeat.
Indeed, the Kerry prospect enters his showdown with Martin Shaw [3(1)-8(4)-1] looking at the minor imperfection as something positive.
“It was a good fight and a very tough test,” he reflects speaking to Irish-boxing.com.
“I started as planned, but I hit a strong shot and had to adapt. There was a lot to learn from it. I was disappointed at first, but soon after, on reflection, I felt quite positive in terms of reacting to a different challenge and the overall experience gained.
“I really wanted to get back in the gym and work on different aspects right away.”
Expanding on the learnings he gained from the entertaining fight with the Russian, he said: “I have learned how to deal with different situations in the ring and alternative styles of opponent. Understand the power of the professional game as well. We’ve also been working on more strength and conditioning for my core.”
Back-to-back slips wouldn’t be ideal, even for someone this young, which means there should be pressure on the teenager going into this matchup.
However, having assessed what went wrong and worked through it, the ‘Kingdom Kid’ feels safe and confident heading into the fight staged by the Leicester Arena.
“No more nerves than usual. And I feel confident after a very quiet camp.
“I absolutely must win because it is a personal learning journey and I will develop different strengths in my own time. Of course, the intention is always to win, but we have a long-term plan,” adds the Tony Davitt-trained fighter.
As a Davitt-trained Carl Greaves-managed boxer, Walsh looks like a certificate for the Dublin card on November 19, but he won’t be involved in any potential National Stadium ventures. The focus of him only on this weekend.
“First of all, the focus is on Leicester this weekend. It would be awesome to fight in Dublin later this year, so hopefully that may be something we explore later. It would be my sixth pro fight in a year. So I am delighted with the activity.”
