Dana White-backed Irish boxer ‘King’ Callum Walsh survives first real test with unanimous-decision win over Ismael Villarreal in New York

Rising Irish boxer Callum Walsh miraculously survived a headbutt, a low blow, his only career knockdown and his first real test on Thursday night, making a thrilling New York City debut in front of thousands of his countrymen at Madison Square Garden’s Theater .

The Cork-born, LA-trained super welterweight remained undefeated with a somewhat controversial unanimous decision over local fighter Ismael Villarreal (13-2), who scored a knockdown in the 10th and final round but still suffered his second career defeat.

Instead of Villarreal’s late knockdown and his punishing counterpunching, the judges were instead moved by Walsh’s output: 137-88 advantage on total punches, including a 100-84 advantage on power punches, according to CompuBox.

“He’s a tough son of a bitch,” Walsh (9-0) said after the win, later admitting he “got hit too much.”

But Thursday night was just as much about what happened outside the ring, where Walsh’s promoter, Tom Loeffler, gathered with a trio of TKO executives: UFC founder Dana White, WWE president Nick Khan and Triple H, the wrestling legend. became WWE’s Chief Content Officer.

White (right) is now in business with WWE’s Nick Khan (left) and Triple H (center).

Ismael Villarreal was a very difficult opponent for Walsh, who still managed to win the decision

Even under normal circumstances, the sight of a major boxing promoter sitting ringside with the titans of MMA and wrestling would be newsworthy. Now, however, it comes at a crucial time in all three respective arenas.

For those unfamiliar with the UFC-WWE merger in September, the resulting company, TKO, is now a $21 billion behemoth with a stock price of $84.90. And in addition to his obvious interests in MMA and wrestling, TKO has a growing curiosity about boxing at a time when the sport is looking for a platform like UFC Fight Pass, the streaming service that aired Thursday’s card.

Last month, Showtime followed HBO’s lead by closing its boxing operations. Additionally, ESPN’s seven-year contract with Tom Rank expires in August 2025, and rival promoter Eddie Hearn has insisted the World Wide Leader is not interested in renewing the deal.

And even if ESPN holds out with Top Rank or another boxing promotion, the cable giant is seeing diminishing returns on its recent pay-per-view shows. May’s fight between Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko reportedly only had 150,000 PPV buys in the US.

Meanwhile, international streaming service DAZN has lost billions, putting its entire existence in jeopardy.

What the sport needs, as a top promoter told Mail Sport on background, is a strong company like TKO to step in and give boxing a platform where it can grow.

Enter UFC Fight Pass, which has now aired eight of Walsh’s fights, only one of which (Thursday) was competitive.

Walsh is pictured with his trainer, Freddy Roach (center left) and promoter Tom Loeffler (right)

Walsh admitted to taking too many punches on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden

Those familiar with Walsh’s name coming in on Thursday likely became aware of it through his ties to bigger players, such as his trainer Freddie Roach, Loeffler and White.

Roach, the Hall of Famer known for training Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, began working with Walsh when the decorated amateur was staying with his father in LA during the pandemic. Within a year, Walsh had caught the attention of Loeffler, Gennady Golovkin’s promoter, resulting in a trio of first-round knockouts for the rising boxer.

By then, Loeffler had sold White on Walsh, who responded by bringing boxing viewers to UFC Fight Pass.

“He’s getting the highest ratings ever in boxing on UFC Fight Pass, so Dana is very happy with the results,” Loeffler said afterwards. ‘We have put a lot of time and effort into this promotion. He was pretty much all over the media, here in the US and abroad in Ireland.”

And of course, Walsh’s fanbase is one that White knows well through his work with Conor McGregor.

“Dana loves the Irish,” Loeffler said. “He decided to give him the dates, and Callum stepped up.”

Thursday night was hardly perfect for Walsh, who said he would give himself a “6 out of 10.”

But for a 22-year-old with a growing fan base, a 10-round thriller like Thursday’s is a good reason for White to continue playing Walsh on UFC Fight Pass.

And for a sport desperate to find a new foothold in the US, that’s a tangible victory that could pay off in the long run.