Walsh shows off pluck of the Irish
Native of Cork defeats Tucker in the second round
An Irish fighter based in Los Angles became the toast of Boston for his knockdown power punches.
Callum “King” Walsh, a native of Cork, Ireland who is managed by Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, made quick work of Wesley Tucker in the second round of the main event of Hollywood Fight Night Boston on Thursday at Agganis Arena. The super welterweight fight was scheduled for 10 rounds with 3,256 in the seats.
“Boston has been unbelievable and I can’t wait to come back to Boston,” said Walsh. “It is good to be Irish here and it’s crazy here with all the boxing legends and Freddie being from here. Sometime next year I hope to come back to Boston, maybe for St. Patrick’s Day.”
Tucker was an 11th-hour substitute for Leonardo Di Stefano Ruiz (10-1, 9 KO’s), who broke a finger in sparring. Walsh improved to 6-0 with five knockouts and will fight next as a middleweight back in LA in June.
Walsh was willing to take a few blows to land the big punch, a strategy that paid off in the second. Walsh landed a combination that put Tucker on the canvas. After Tucker took a standing eight count, Walsh went to work, landing combinations that put Tucker down in his corner for a second time in the round. Tucker went down for a third time in the round, prompting the referee to stop the fight at 2:59 of the round.
“The first round he caught me with a checked hook and I realized that was his best shot,” said Walsh. “So then I thought I’m just going to put the pressure on him and get him out of there early.
“He came out in the second and tried to put the pressure on me and I caught with a left hand. I was trying to throw the flurries but I was also not trying to do too much.”
Danny O’Connor had to undergo a physical and mental restructuring while attempting to regain his lost stature in the rough and tumble sport of professional boxing.
O’Connor stepped away from the sport to focus all his attention as a first responder during the pandemic, initially as a firefighter and later a paramedic in Denver.
The Framingham native ended his five-year hiatus from the squared circle when he encountered Luis “Vicious” Garcia of Richmond, Calif., in an eightround super welterweight bout.
O’Connor’s timing appeared a little off in the first, but he looked sharp landing right-left combinations from a safe distance in the second to clearly win the round. O’Connor, a southpaw, used his right jab to set up a left cross that opened a free-flowing cut above the bridge of the nose.
Garcia’s corner worked furiously to stem the bleeding and Garcia answered the bell for the fourth. O’Connor repeatedly landed sharp combinations that turned Garcia’s mug into a bloody mess, prompting the referee to stop the fight at 1:55 of the fourth. O’Connor improved to 31-3 with 12 knockouts.
“I had to reinvent myself as a person before I could reinvent myself as a fighter,” said O’Connor before the fight. “From all the habits and all the things instilled in me that I needed to overcome and that in turn reinvented me as a fighter.”
“Mentally and physically, I am stronger. I didn’t start boxing until I was 18 years old and made the Olympic team two years later. I had a lot of things I got by with because of my natural skills,” he said.
On the undercard
The card kicked off with a six-round light heavyweight bout between local favorite Kendrick Ball Jr. of Worcester and Mike Stegall from Cedar Hill, Mo.
Ball enjoyed a sizable height and reach advantage, but his double jab leads were effectively neutralized by Stegall’s counter punches to the head and body. Stegall was in control by landing the heavier blows and clearly won five of the six rounds. The judges didn’t see it that way awarded the fight to Ball by unanimous decision. Ball improved to 201-3 while Stegall suffered his first pro loss.
The flashy featherweights took over in an eight-round match between Jose Edgardo Garcia of Houston, Texas against Hegly Mosqueda of Caracas, Venezuela. Both fighters possessed quick hands and threw combination punches in bunches. Mosqueda became the aggressor in the third round and backed Garcia into the ropes with head and body combinations. The fight went the distance and Mosqueda won a split decision.
Francis “Frank the Tank” Hogan of Weymouth put his undefeated record on a line against veteran journeyman Jimmie Williams of New Haven, Conn, in a middleweight match. The fight took shape in the second round with both boxers landing staggering combination punches in the middle of the ring. Hogan, who fights as a southpaw, took control in the third when he landed a sequence of left crosses that hurt Williams. Hogan repeatedly staggered Williams in the fourth and fifth, prompting his corner to throw in the towel between rounds. Hogan improved to 14 with 13 KO’s.