Callum Walsh Returns Home Chasing Win No. 17 at Zuffa Boxing 10

Callum Walsh walks into the 3Arena on Saturday night still undefeated and looking for his 17th professional victory. The Irish middleweight headlines the co-main event of Zuffa Boxing 10 in Dublin against former European champion Tyler Denny, and for a fighter who once made his living on fishing boats, the homecoming carries weight.

Walsh has been back in Ireland for about a week, training out of his home gym in Cork before the walk in front of a partisan Dublin crowd. He's the man who headlined the very first Zuffa Boxing card — a distinction he's quick to remind everyone about — and the promotion has ballooned to its tenth event since, signing fighters left and right. "There'll only ever be one first," as he put it, and that first was him.

The Roach Connection

The origin story is a good one. Stuck at home during COVID with nothing happening, Walsh took a punt and flew to Los Angeles to train under Freddie Roach at Wild Card Boxing. That gamble put him in the orbit of promoter Tom Loeffler, then Dana White, and eventually onto Zuffa Boxing's marquee. He didn't even realize he'd been booked as the main event on card one until fight week — he says he just shows up and fights.

Denny is the obstacle this weekend, an Englishman making the short trip across the Irish Sea to spoil the party. Walsh isn't overlooking him. He met Denny the day before their chat, joked that the man is "definitely real," and made a point of saying you can't underestimate anyone who's spent weeks in camp preparing specifically for you.

A Fighting Household

Walsh's partner is Tabatha Ricci, the UFC's No. 10-ranked women's strawweight who carries a 12-5 record and recently competed in the Octagon. That meant two fighters grinding through camp under one roof — and Walsh happily copped to being the more intense of the pair. He described losing his patience with a talking fridge that kept interrupting him. Ricci pointed out he was arguing with an appliance. He wasn't backing down.

For all the surreal talk about floating on a rock and manifestation, Walsh keeps circling back to how strange his life has become. He still wakes up half-expecting to be back on the boats. Saturday's job is simpler: harness the Irish crowd, keep his record spotless, and get the Denny fight out of the way so he can move on to the next one.