Tom Loeffler and 360 Promotions head down to Commerce Casino, California this Friday night to continue the march of fast rising Irish star Callum Walsh. The 22 year old southpaw takes on veteran Carson Jones as the headline attraction live on UFC Fight Pass.
Loeffler has worked with some of the very best fighters in the years gone by, Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko both worked with him not long before he engineered the career of Gennadiy Golovkin. However, it is the six foot super welterweight from Cork that has Loeffler’s mind consumed in the present day.
“This is a great opportunity for Callum, he will be headlining his sixth UFC Fight Pass event.” Loeffler said in an exclusive interview for ProBox TV. “This will be his first title fight. The belt he is fighting for is sanctioned by the WBC, a USA silver title due to the quality of Carson Jones. He’s been over to fight Kell Brook in the UK in the past, he’s a real step up for Callum in terms of experience.”
Walsh (6-0, 5 KOs) has spent the entirety of his short career in America, most recently headlining in Boston with a second round knockout victory over Wesley Tucker in March. This weekend he heads back west having had his first five professional fights in California.
“After the show in Boston we saw Callum’s numbers expanded quite a bit.” Loeffler explained. “His popularity with his following, viewing figures and his social media. We head back to LA for the first time in over six months, there is a lot of anticipation about Callum coming back to fight on the west coast. We have been working well with UFC Fight Pass, it is a global platform that has seen Callum get great numbers, especially in Ireland and the UK. I flew out with him to the UFC in London and he was recognised by a large amount of fans. Funny, he broke the record on one of those punching machines in Boston, he then did the same in London.
“Everything surrounding his career is on the fast track. The fact he is trained by Freddie Roach, has Dana White’s support with UFC Fight Pass and he’s working with me it just seems clear that he is one of the fastest rising stars in boxing. He has all the intangibles to take over boxing in the next couple of years.”
Ireland’s grand re-opening of boxing with Katie Taylor returning home ended in disappointment for the Irish with national hero losing on the cards to Chantelle Cameron. To make matters worse Michael Conlan lost in a disappointing showing against Luis Alberto Lopez in Belfast just one week later.
“Katie Taylor just sold out the 3Arena in Dublin, I don’t think her loss has as big of an effect on her.” Loeffler answered. “She took it upon herself to jump up a division and take on the undisputed champion, but she kept all her titles at lightweight. I don’t see that as much of a setback for Katie. I don’t want to put Callum on the same level as Katie in terms of stature, but what he is doing in the gym and who he is sparring shows his ability is as great as anyone in Ireland.
“We want to keep him active, he will be out again another four times this year. I can see him fighting for a world title by the end of next year. It all depends on how his rise goes, but that is due a lot to his amateur experience. This will be his second 10 round fight in just seven fights. He definitely wants a homecoming in Ireland. I explained to Callum that the more he builds his fanbase over here the bigger the homecoming will be over there. He understands that and if it happens sometime next year it would be great. It is definitely in the plans to bring him to Ireland, Dana White is 100 per cent in agreement with that. The Success Dana has had with Conor McGregor with the UFC, he sees similar traits in Callum in terms of potential there. He definitely wants to maximise the Irish fanbase.”
In an age where fast tracking the stars of the amateur system in the professional circuit is at an all time high, Loeffler insisted that their plan for Ireland’s next star is fit for The King.
“He’s very big for super welterweight, he’s only 22 so it is still easy for him to make the weight.” Loeffler added. “I could easily see him going into a middleweight, but for now he has now problems making 154 pounds. He will stay there as long as he is comfortable making the weight. We will see how everything shakes out in terms of titles and opportunities. He’s definitely still developing, but he’s the complete package. I learnt from the success with GGG that the American fight fans definitely appreciate someone who is aggressive, is entertaining and has a lot of knockouts. He is really following in those same footsteps, he’s got a great style in the ring with knockouts, he’s got a Hall of Fame trainer and he has the charisma outside the ring. He’s got the personality, he’s got the social media following, I think the sky's the limit for Callum.”
