Callum Walsh Beats Tyler Denny in Dublin

Callum Walsh preserved his unbeaten record but was made to earn every scrap of it by the awkward and obstinate Tyler Denny at Dublin’s 3Arena. The 25-year-old Irish southpaw took a unanimous decision over ten rounds by scores of 98–91, 98–91 and 96–90, improving to 17–0 with 11 stoppages. The margins were wider than the contest often appeared at ringside, for Denny succeeded in making the favourite uncomfortable, untidy and, for long spells, thoroughly irritated.

Walsh began purposefully, pushing out his right jab and following with the straight left, but the opening round ended with an unpleasant surprise. As he bent low during a scrappy exchange, Denny struck with a right hook, and Walsh dropped to one knee. There was some suggestion that balance and body weight contributed to the fall, but the referee ruled it a knockdown and administered a count. It was an untimely reminder that Denny, a former European champion who has made a habit of upsetting more celebrated men, had not travelled to Dublin merely to admire the scenery.

Walsh supplied the proper answer early in the second. Denny advanced too squarely and was caught by a sweeping left hand to the chin, which dropped him heavily. He rose quickly, though swelling appeared around his right eye, and Walsh attempted to force an early conclusion. A right hook and further left hands drove Denny towards the ropes, but the Englishman covered, held his position and survived. The round also contained a clash of heads which Walsh later said may have damaged the orbital bone around his left eye.

The Irishman settled into more controlled work in the third and fourth rounds. He attacked Denny’s body with the left hand, then returned to his jab and used his feet to circle away whenever Denny charged forward. Walsh was plainly the quicker man and the more gifted combination puncher, but Denny’s pressure prevented him from looking entirely comfortable. The veteran was not landing with great frequency, yet his physical approach, leaning and close-range work forced Walsh to expend energy and denied him the flowing performance the home crowd had expected.

By the fifth, Walsh appeared to be tiring. He spent periods on the ropes, where Denny worked with short hooks and uppercuts and tried to turn the match into a test of strength rather than speed. Denny had useful success in the sixth, pressing behind his southpaw lead and catching Walsh cleanly. Walsh remained ahead because his scoring blows were sharper and more obvious, but the contest had become a difficult examination rather than a procession.

Walsh recovered his momentum in the seventh. A hard left drove Denny backwards late in the round and was followed by four hooks as the Englishman covered near the ropes. The bell interrupted the attack, though Denny had shown no sign of capitulation. He continued to advance in the eighth, where the roughness finally exhausted the referee’s patience. Walsh lost a point for holding, and Denny was similarly penalised for striking behind the head. The deductions cancelled one another mathematically, although they neatly summarised a contest which had long since ceased to be tidy.

Walsh also emerged from another collision with a cut over the left eye, with blood running freely, and later sustained a smaller mark on the cheek. He was visibly frustrated by Denny’s mauling tactics, yet still produced cleaner work. His speed remained the decisive difference, particularly when he created enough room for the straight left or the right uppercut. Denny, courageous and persistently awkward, continued to swing and press but too often followed rather than cut off the ring.

The ninth contained a lively exchange in which Denny landed a left before Walsh replied with a right uppercut. Knowing he was unlikely to receive much assistance from the scorecards, Denny attacked with greater urgency in the tenth. He lunged with the left and followed with the right, while Walsh answered with hooks and a well-timed lead uppercut. A final hard left from Walsh checked Denny’s advance and ensured that the Irishman finished the contest in command, even though he could not repeat the second-round knockdown.

Walsh deserved the verdict, but the two scores of 98–91 did Denny’s effort few favours. The challenger had been knocked down, outsped and outscored, yet he had also forced Walsh into uncomfortable positions and exposed defensive and tactical shortcomings which sterner opposition will study carefully. Walsh admitted afterwards that the bout had been harder than expected and expressed concern over a possible orbital injury. It was a valuable victory rather than a brilliant one: he passed the examination, retained his unbeaten record and demonstrated courage under pressure, but talk of world championships can reasonably wait until the medical checks and the technical repairs have been completed.

I thought Walsh deserved the win, but those 98–91 cards flattered him. Denny made him uncomfortable from the opening bell, dropped him in the first and kept forcing him into ugly exchanges where Walsh’s feet crossed and his balance disappeared. Walsh answered properly by flooring Denny with a sharp left in the second, and from there his hand speed and cleaner combinations separated them.

What concerned me was Walsh’s habit of backing straight onto the ropes and holding when Denny crowded him. Against a bigger puncher, that becomes dangerous. He also marked up around the left eye and looked tired midway through. Still, he found a second wind, worked the body and landed the more accurate shots late. The decision was right; the margins were not. Walsh passed the test, but he is not yet ready for the elite middleweights.