Liam Walsh (boxer)

Liam Walsh (born 18 May 1986) is a British professional left-handed boxer fighting in the super featherweight division. He is the current holder of the Commonwealth title at the weight and is one of three brothers, all of whom are professional boxers.

Professional career

Walsh made his professional boxing debut on 2 February 2008 alongside his twin brother, Ryan, and their elder brother, Michael. Boxing on the same bill as Olympic silver medallist Amir Khan at London's Excel Arena, all three brothers scored winning debuts. Liam Walsh faced journeyman Daniel Thorpe and made a quick start with a first round win. Speaking of his debut victory Walsh said "I knocked him down but he got back up. I caught him with a good right hand and I don't think he fancied the job after that."^[1] Walsh followed up the victory with further wins in 2008 over journeymen Johnny Greaves and Youssef Al Hamidi. In 2009 Walsh defeated Shaun Walton, Baz Carey and Jon Baguley. In 2010 Walsh expanded his record to 9 wins against no defeats with victories over Sid Razak, Ibrar Riyaz and the Frenchman Sebastien Cornu.^[2]

Commonwealth Champion

On 23 October 2010 Walsh headlined a bill for the first time at the York Hall in Bethnal Green. The occasion was a challenge for the Commonwealth super featherweight title recently vacated by Scotsman Ricky Burns.^[3] Walsh defeated his co-challenger for the belt, the Ghanaian Maxwell Awuku who had had a record of 20 wins and one defeat before that fight, over the full 12 rounds in a grueling contest.^[4] Prior to the victory, brothers Michael and Ryan had also scored wins on the bill defeating Ian Bailey and James Ancliff respectively.^[5] On 20 March 2010 Walsh made his first successful defence of the title, traveling to Wigan to beat local man John Kays with a stoppage in the 9th round.^[6] The second defence of his title came on 30 September 2011 with Walsh meeting former British champion Paul Appleby in a thrilling fight at the York Hall. Despite winning in the tenth round Walsh had been knocked down and hurt in the seventh round and said afterwards that it was "definitely the hardest fight I've been in."^[7]

Walsh was scheduled to fight in his first World title fight against WBO Lightweight Champion Ricky Burns on 15 December 2012 but had to withdraw from the fight due to injuries from being involved in a car crash.

British Super Featherweight Champion

Liam Walsh won the British super featherweight title in a highly contested fight against Gary Sykes. Walsh dropped Sykes in the first round and went onto dominate the fight and won a clear decision with judges scores of 119-108, 118-111 and 118-109.

Liam Walsh defended his titles on 28 February in a rematch against Joe Murray who he previously beat by Majority Decision, this time winning by 5th round TKO.

Walsh's next possible opponent could be the mandatory challenger for the British title, Troy James.

Professional boxing record

18 Wins (12 Knockouts, 6 Decisions), 0 Defeats, 0 Draws[8]
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	18-0	Joseph Murray	TKO	5	2015-02-28	O2 Arena, Millennium Dome, Greenwich, London, United Kingdom	Retained the Commonwealth (British Empire) super featherweight title and BBBofC British super featherweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	17-0	Gary Sykes	UD	12	2014-11-29	ExCel Arena, Dockland, London, United Kingdom	Retained the Commonwealth (British Empire) super featherweight title. Won BBBofC British super featherweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	16-0	Kevin Hooper	KO	4	2014-07-26	Phones 4u Arena, Manchester, United Kingdom
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	15-0	Joseph Murray	MD	12	2013-09-21	Copper Box Arena, Olympic Park, Hackney, London, United Kingdom	Retained the Commonwealth (British Empire) super featherweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	14-0	Scott Harrison	UD	10	2013-04-20	Wembley Arena, London, United Kingdom	Retained WBO European lightweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	13-0	Domenico Urbano	TKO	8 (12), 2:10	2012-07-14	Upton Park, London, United Kingdom	Won vacant WBO European lightweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	12-0	Paul Appleby	RTD	10 (12), 3:00	2011-09-30	York Hall, London, United Kingdom	Retained the Commonwealth (British Empire) super featherweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	11-0	Jon Kays	KO	10 (12), 1:05	2011-03-19	Robin Park Centre, Wigan, United Kingdom	Retained the Commonwealth (British Empire) super featherweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	10-0	Maxwell Awuku	UD	12	2010-10-23	York Hall, London, United Kingdom	Won the vacant Commonwealth (British Empire) super featherweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	9-0	Sebastien Cornu	PTS	6	2010-09-24	Grosvenor House Hotel, London, United Kingdom
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	8-0	Ibrar Riyaz	TKO	1 (6), 1:59	2010-05-15	Upton Park, London, United Kingdom
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	7-0	Sid Razak	TKO	4 (6), 2:02	2010-02-13	Wembley Arena, London, United Kingdom
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	6-0	Jon Baguley	TKO	3 (6), 2:45	2009-10-09	York Hall, London, United Kingdom
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	5-0	Baz Carey	TKO	3 (6), 2:03	2009-05-22	York Hall, London, United Kingdom
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	4-0	Shaun Walton	TKO	1 (4), 2:12	2009-01-30	York Hall, London, United Kingdom
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	3-0	Youssef Al Hamidi	PTS	4	2008-12-06	ExCel Arena, London, United Kingdom
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	2-0	Johnny Greaves	KO	4 (4), 1:04	2008-06-14	York Hall, London, United Kingdom
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	1-0	Daniel Thorpe	KO	1 (4), 1:57	2008-02-02	ExCel Arena, London, United Kingdom	Professional debut.

References