Walsh’s family sacrifice ahead of his title fight
LIAM Walsh has revealed he had to recently miss the birth of son in order to train for his IBF super-featherweight title fight with Gervonta Davis.
The Rochdale-born boxer will be hoping to achieve a lifelong ambition when he takes on the highly-rated American at the Copper Box Arena in London tomorrow.
Walsh has left no stone unturned during his camp ahead of the fight, including missing the chance to be there to see his new son born, but he hopes it will all be worth it.
“I left my missus in labour a couple of weeks ago on a Thursday because I had to go to Wales for training,” he said.
“She gave birth the next day and I didn’t get to see my new son Ryan until five days later. That is part of the sacrifices I have had to make for this fight.”
Liam has named his son after his twin brother Ryan, who also competes on the same bill and he has detailed just how tightknit his family is.
“He is named after my twin brother and my other son is after our eldest brother Michael,” said Liam.
“People think I’m mad, but my brothers mean everything to me. It’s the way we are. None of us actually own anything. Anything we have is ours. When I win this fight it will be for the family.”
Davis is touted as one of the next big things in America, and is the protégé of poundfor-pound king Floyd Mayweather.
The unbeaten multiple-weight world champion touched down in the UK earlier this week, but Walsh thinks that Mayweather’s influence may result in Davis becoming overhyped.
“He is getting a lot of media because Mayweather says he is the future of boxing,” he said.
“Some people just think it is true and just follow along instead of having their own thoughts and believe everything they’re told. For me he looks very good and there is no doubt he’s a world class fighter, but there are still a lot of questions to be asked.” Walsh fired a warning out to his opponent ahead of the weigh-in. “I am prepared for anything he wants to do, but come weigh-in time I strictly advise him to stay at an arm’s length,” he said. “We’re fighters first and foremost, but although I’m prepared for anything I am professional and will conduct myself in the right way. “You can only push me so far before you overstep the boundary.” It will be a family affair for the Walsh family tomorrow, as brother Ryan also fights on the bill, taking on Marco McCullough.