In a shocker, Kevin Walsh traveled to Belfast and earned a split decision victory over Michael Conlan (20-4, 10 KOs) on Friday, live on DAZN.
Walsh (20-0, 10 KOs), who didn’t have a lot of punch output, still managed to secure the victory with the judges scoring it 97-93 (Conlan), 96-94 (Walsh), and 96-94 for Walsh, bringing him one step closer to challenging the WBC champion Bruce “Shu-Shu” Carrington. After the fight, Walsh looked at the camera and said, “Shu-Shu, where you at”? Walsh is the latest road warrior in boxing, traveling all the way to Ireland to beat the hometown fighter.
In the opening round, both fighters started quickly as they tried to establish the distance they preferred for the fight. There was a clash of heads towards the end of the round after Walsh landed a powerful overhand left. Blood began to run down Conlan’s forehead in the second round due to a headbutt from the opening round. Both fighters used many foot feints, but it was mostly a low-output round.
In the third round, Conlan managed to land a solid left hand, and when he switched to southpaw, he scored a powerful right stab jab to Walsh’s abdomen. Conlan controlled the pace of the round, forcing Walsh to reconsider his strategy. He continued to dominate into the fourth round, as Walsh struggled to find an opening to throw his punches. Being on the back foot was not working for Walsh, which allowed Conlan to land shots consistently.
In the fifth round, Walsh continued to just feint and not throw any punches. Conlan wasn’t doing much more but did land a couple of punches during the round. The cut on Conlan’s forehead was managed by the corner and wasn’t bleeding heavily down his face. Walsh finally got his offense going in the sixth round, which caused blood to once again stream down Conlan’s face. As the round progressed, Conlan switching from conventional to southpaw made Walsh hesitant to throw any combinations.
In rounds seven through ten, Walsh increased his pace, but those rounds were difficult to score since neither fighter clearly won them. In the end, two of the three judges preferred Walsh’s work over Conlan’s boxing style.
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