Irish southpaw ‘King’ Callum Walsh doesn’t like to watch boxing he just likes to fight

A fighter’s job is to fight. Plain and simple. Sometimes he fights the best, other times, not so much.

“King” Callum Walsh, from Cork, Ireland, and living in Hollywood, Calif., is a fighter plain and simple.

Line them up and he fights them. He doesn’t worry about who they are or their status.

“That’s why I’ve never turned down an opponent,” says Walsh, a quietly confident 23-year-old southpaw rated 16th by the WBC. He will headline the card at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, Nov. 9. “I don’t even know who they are. It makes no difference.”

Walsh sounds like a No. 1 contender hankering for a title shot but in reality the 154-pounder is the main event fighter with a record of only 8-0 with seven knockouts and he has a secret.

He is not enamored with the Sweet Science.

“To be honest, I watch no boxing,” he admits at the New York press conference announcing his upcoming fight. “When I was a kid growing up, I never watched boxing. Even right now, I still don’t watch.

“I was put in a boxing ring when I was six years old. I didn’t get into boxing through watching it. I didn’t get into boxing through anything. I just got stuck in there. That was my life.

“That’s all I know.”

He was saying this four days before Canelo Alvarez and Jermell Charlo would fight for the undisputed super-middleweight title. Interested?

“I have no interest,” he coolly says. “I’m just focused on my own career. This is my job.”

Fighting. Not watching.

The late Hall of Famer Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker used to say he never watched tape on his opponent because what you see on the tape may not happen in the ring.

Walsh agrees.

“When you’re relying on tape too much, your game plan can go out the window, then you’re thinking, what do I do?

“I’m fighting 10 rounds and I’ve got 30 minutes to figure it out.”

Helping him figure it out is his Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach. A seven-time Trainer of the Year, Roach, who has trained over 40 world champions, saw something special in Walsh.

Fighting in the ring without outside pressure is a plus when your team is top-shelf. Besides Roach, who has trained Manny Pacquiao, Mike Tyson and Oscar De La Hoya amongst others, Walsh is promoted by Tom Loeffler and this is not his first rodeo.

Loeffler has promoted many fights at the Garden and some fighters you may have heard of like heavyweight champs Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko and former middleweight boss Gennady “Triple G” Golovkin.

“I saw him sparring in the Wild Card Gym and I asked Freddie about him,” recalls Loeffler now head of 360 Promotions. “Freddie has had 42 world champions, and he isn’t impressed very easily with new fighters coming to his gym.

“He said Callum was one of the best young fighters he’s ever seen.”

Walsh walked into Roach’s Wild Card Gym in California two years ago unannounced and wanted to train and Roach told him that today was sparring day and to get in the ring.

“He spars right off the bat,” recalls Roach. “He’s hard-working and gifted and he wants to work every day.”

Plus, he’s committed.

“Sometimes I tell him the gym is closed on Sunday and don’t come in,” states Roach. “He still comes anyway. I say what are you doing here, and he says, ‘I have a key.’”

“I come from a big amateur background,” declares Walsh who is a six-time Irish National champ. “I had a very amateur style and now I am able to mix in Freddie’s pro-style and I can do both.

“If I’m in a fight and I have to box, I can win it through boxing. Mostly, I’m going to stand down and try to finish it early.”

After Walsh’s pro debut (a knockout), Loeffler went into action.

“Signed him to a contract and I flew to Vegas to introduce him to Dana. He took a liking to him,” Loeffler states with a smile.

Dana White, CEO and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) didn’t seem to be a boxing fan, although Loeffler said he was looking for the right opportunity.

“I’ve known Dana since the ‘Triple G’ days,” says Loeffler. “I told him we could put him on Fight Pass [UFC’s broadcast entity], and he automatically gave us four dates last year and seven this year.”

Nov. 9 is the end of this deal, but probably not his final one because his last seven fights have been on UFC Fight Pass.

Now before you think Loeffler is looking for a shovel to dig up Walsh’s next opponent, think again. He found a tough local opponent.

Walsh steps up against the Bronx’s Ismael “Maelo” Villarreal with a record of 13-1 with nine knockouts. In his last outing, Villarreal stopped John David Martinez (then 19-3; 16 KOs) breaking his eight-fight winning streak and the Bronxite has never been stopped.

In fact, both fighters have avoided facing the ever-present “tomato can.”

In their last four bouts, Villarreal’s opponents have a combined record of 63-6 while Walsh’s were 95-24-3.

Having Walsh fight in the Garden is good for local boxers searching for work.

“We want to put as many locals on the show as possible,” says Loeffler. “We did it in Boston and we plan to do it here in New York.”

Walsh has a crowd-pleasing style that’s all action.

“He understands he’s got to put on a show for the fans, especially the UFC fans,” states Loeffler. “They don’t want to watch a 10 or 12-round boxing match and a points decision. They want to see a knockout.”

The UFC combat sports crowd will be in town for Walsh’s fight and UFC 295 in its Garden debut on Nov. 11.

Irish fighters have graced the squared circle for decades. You can go back to the 1920s and ‘30s with all-time great Hall of Famer Jimmy McLarnin, the two-time welterweight champ who fought in the old Garden sixteen times; heavyweights Jerry Quarry and Long Island’s own “Gentlemen” Gerry Cooney; and don’t forget Micky Ward, he of the Arturo Gatti trilogy.

The fighter who most mirrors Walsh’s journey is fellow Irishman John Duddy from Derry, Ireland. He fought nine times in the Garden.

“I fought under Miguel Cotto a few times, so I was called ‘Juan’ Duddy,” says the bearded Duddy with a smile about the Puerto Rican Hall of Famer. He posted a 29-2 record with 18 KO’s and retired in 2011.

Duddy had a huge Irish following, but New York fight fans found his style pleasing and that’s the key to boxing success.

For Walsh, it’s just boxing and more boxing even if he’s not watching.

“There’s no time to relax,” he says with a grin. “I’m fighting every two, three months. After my last fight, I fought on a Saturday, took Sunday off and I got back in the gym Monday. If this fight was tomorrow, I’m ready.”

And if he does good on Nov. 9?

“The Irish are going to come out and support one of their own any day of the week,” acknowledges Duddy. “He’s got a promotion team around him that are tried and tested and know what they’re doing.

“He’s shown he’s got the dedication. It’s only a formality that the likes of the Irish and New York fight fans are going to get behind him 100 percent.”

Walsh may not watch boxing, but the boxing world will be watching him as he hopes to fight for a world title in a year or so.

“I don’t feel any pressure. I feel like I was destined for greatness,” declares Walsh. “I didn’t care about school and didn’t care about working. I worked jobs, but I didn’t really care if I got fired or whatever.

“I always felt like I was here to do big things and I am here to just do that.”