Liam Walsh can see ‘huge’ fights on the horizon and is more than happy to put in the hard yards to them in the foreground.
The Kerry boxer is hopeful an extremely active year will lead to breakout opportunities.
The journey to the next level begins this weekend for the ‘Kingdom Kid’ and he hopes his Showdown at the Showgrounds clash is the first of many in a busy 2025.
“I’m really looking forward to getting going,” he tells Irish-boxing.com.
“In my first year as a pro, I was very active and I want the same again this year. I know that’ll happen with huge opportunities just around the corner.”
When pressed on what those opportunities may be, the Munster boxer diverts responsibility to his team.
“I let my team deal with that I just get on with training and fighting.”
With Walsh turning over at the tender age of 18, his team have always made a deliberate play to keep the pressure off. Tony Davitt and co were adamant he should be given time to grow into pro boxing while pointing out he was the ‘learning on the job’ poster boy.
Two draws in 2022 proved a case in point and Walsh now looks back on those results and valuable experiences.
“I’ve learned a lot from the two draws. At the time I was very young and made a lot of mistakes, mistakes I can now look back on and learn not just with boxing but with character and mindset. I believe I am very experienced for my age as a pro and I’m just gonna keep developing and improving, as Tony puts it ‘learning my trade’.”
The Elite Sports boxer will be back in boxing school on Saturday as he faces Jordan Grannum over six. The English fighter is among the most respected away fighters on the circuit and is as close as you can get to guaranteed rounds.
“I have respect for Jordan it’s going to be a great fight, I need to be switched on for all 6 rounds,” he says before making a polite prediction.
“A win anyway I can get it.”