The undefeated Irishman who headlines the first Zuffa Boxing card of his Paramount+ deal, faces Carlos Ocampo in a middleweight fight that has more responsibility than risk. Walsh is 24 years old. Impressed with caution. This is the first time he has had a full night.
There is no co-main to hide behind. No battle later to change the mind. If the house is quiet, he is upstairs.
Walsh arrives here disappointed in his last outing. His ten round decision over Fernando Vargas Jnr last September came on a big stage, inside the Terence Crawford Saul Alvarez in Las Vegas. The crowd is still coming. The power never came. Walsh felt it immediately.
“No, I wasn’t happy,” he said this week. “I didn’t think it was a great performance.
He didn’t wear it after all. He made a change.
Walsh left his longtime coach and moved to Southern California, joining Brickhouse Boxing under the management of Marvin Somodio and Dickie Eklund Jnr. He tied the action right that night.
“I didn’t feel like I was ready for that fight, and the performance showed that,” he said. “I’ll be looking forward to this to improve on the last one.”
The response since then has been sharp. Walsh stopped three straight opponents in early 2024 and 2025. The power is real. He knows that there is no excuse for failure on a large scale.
“On a stage like this, you want to perform at your best,” he said. “I understand you don’t always, but I can do it.”
Ocampo aims to answer a simple question. Can Walsh dominate a fight he is destined to dominate? Ocampo has shared the ring with elite fighters. He was also quickly arrested. Walsh knows both sides of that history.
“Obviously, it’s nice to go in and get the nod,” Walsh said. “Either way, a win is a win, as long as I don’t lose.”
Moving up to middleweight has made cutting weight easier. Walsh is also placed in the group prioritized by Zuffa. Not wearing a seat belt. Walsh hopes to change that sometime this year.
For now, the assignment is narrow. Pure victory. See prepared. Display the order.
“There’s only one first,” he said. “I was the first thing that happened.”
Eventually, he plans to return to his farm in Ventura County, back to normal and away from the game. He also laughed at the thought of an impressive victory that would lead him to a title.
“That’s down the road,” he said. “This is just a normal fight.”
It’s usually on paper. For Walsh, this is the kind of night where excuses stop working.