It was the first Zuffa Boxing event on Paramount+ and, in the main event, middleweight Callum Walsh secured a unanimous decision over Carlos Ocampo (38-4, 26 KOs) that was dull but decisive.
The judges scored this one 98-90 x2 and 97-91 for Walsh (16-0, 11 KOs), who will be remembered in Zuffa Boxing history as the winner of its inaugural event. After the fight, Walsh told Max Kellerman that he wasn’t satisfied with his performance and planned to improve as the level of his opponents increases.
In the opening round, Walsh wasted no time and threw a four-punch combination, but Ocampo was right there with him, throwing a four-punch combination himself. Throughout the round, they exchanged hard combinations on the inside, stepped out for about 15 seconds, and then went back in to do it again. Walsh landed a looping left hook several times during the round as they felt each other out.
The second round was an exact replica of the first, with neither man doing anything differently. Walsh seemed to be looking to make an adjustment but didn’t throw any punches during that time. There wasn’t much action in the third round, as Walsh was throwing one punch at a time, searching for a home run shot. There was a lot of feinting, but not much leather flying.
In the fourth round, Walsh increased his volume with combinations but didn’t do much to set up his punches. Ocampo was using his head as defense and landed a few shots, but not enough to get Walsh’s attention. It was another low-output round in the fifth as Walsh went back to throwing one punch at a time without setting it up. His right jab was all but absent, and when in close, Ocampo managed to land a short right hand that made Walsh step back.
The sixth round featured an interesting moment when Walsh was hit on the shoulder by Ocampo, but his gloves touched the canvas, which was properly called a knockdown. Walsh took the count and kept moving forward, but he seemed clearly upset about the situation. He fired off powerful looping shots until the round ended.
Rounds seven and eight saw Walsh controlling the pace with his offense, which wasn’t very strong but was more active than Ocampo’s. In the ninth round, Ocampo hit Walsh low, and the referee deducted a point from him. In the final round, Walsh eased up a bit because he knew he had already won the fight. Walsh didn’t score the knockout and looked more like a fighter needing more experience than one ready for a world title.
CALLUM WALSH VS. CARLOS OCAMPO UNDERCARD RESULTS
Misael Rodriguez Olivas (16-0, 8 KOs) scored a fourth-round TKO victory over Austin Deanda (17-1, 11 KOs). It was a dominant fight where Olivas controlled the action. The referee stopped the fight, which was the right call.
Julian “Hammer Hands” Rodriguez (25-1, 15 KOs) scores a unanimous decision (99-91, 99-91, 98-92) over Cain Sandoval (17-1, 15 KOs). The first half of the fight belongs to Rodriguez as he was landing at will. Sandoval turns things around with his pressure offense and forces Rodriguez to dig deep late in the fight. It was an exciting fight to open the main card on Paramount+.
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