On Thursday night in front of a huge crowd filled with celebrities from the sporting world, Fast Rising Irish Star, ‘King’ Callum Walsh, (6-0, 5 KOs), of Cork, Ireland stopped veteran Wesley Tucker, (15-5, 9 KOs), in the second round at the Agganis Arena in Boston, MA and broadcast live internationally on UFC FIGHT PASS.
The event was promoted by Tom Loeffler’s 360 Promotions.
Among those seated ringside for Walsh’s first fight in front of the Boston boxing fans on the Eve of St. Patrick’s Day were UFC President Dana White, UFC Legend Georges St. Pierre, Las Vegas Raiders All-Pro Defensive End Maxx Crosby, New England Boxing Legend Micky Ward, Two-Time Super Bowl Champion (New England Patriots) Tully Banta-Cain, former heavyweight contender Kevin McBride, former welterweight contender Dicky Eklund and UFC Hall of Famer Matt Serra.
With Hall of Fame trainer and Boston native Freddie Roach in his corner, Walsh easily won the first round as the southpaw super welterweight fought smartly behind his range finding jab combined with his tight defense.
Using his power to overwhelm Tucker in the second stanza, the 22-year-old Walsh used his full arsenal to score three knockdowns with the bout being called to a halt at 2:59 of the round. The super welterweight bout was scheduled for ten rounds.
Said an elated Walsh to a thundering ovation, “Boston I will be back. It doesn’t matter who is across the ring, I can adapt to anything. Freddie said to put the pressure on and work the body and that’s what I did.”
“I’d like to thank every single person who came out tonight, thank you to my family and friends who are here from Ireland.”
In the super welterweight co-feature scheduled for eight rounds, Danny O’Connor, (31-3, 12 KO’s, of Framingham, MA stopped Luis Garcia, (13-2-1, 9 KOs), of Richmond, CA in the fifth round (1:55). Fighting off a five-year layoff, O’Connor thrilled the local crowd with a tremendous performance. Currently residing in Colorado where he is employed as a firefighter, O’Connor was honored after the bout by representatives from the local and national firefighter’s unions.
Fighting in the middleweight division, Frank ‘The Tank’ Hogan, (14-0, 13 KOs), of Weymouth, MA stopped Jimmie Williams, (18-11-2, 6 KOs), of New Haven, CT. Hogan proved to be too strong over the first five rounds as Williams’ corner stopped the fight with the popular Irishman staying undefeated.
In the featherweight division, Hegly Mosqueda, (24-0, 18 KOs), of Caracas, Venezuela, was victorious over Jose Garcia, 13-4-3, 9 KO’s), of Houston, TX over eight rounds. Scores were 77-75 twice for Mosqueda and 77-75 for Garcia.
Kendrick Ball Jr. (21-1-3, 12 KOs), of Worcester, MA won a six round unanimous decision over Mike Stegall (7-1-3, 3 KOs), of Cedar Hill, MO. Scores were 60-54, twice and 59-55.
