Liam Walsh Warns Undefeated Matchroom Starlet Ahead of DAZN Clash
Liam Walsh believes Tom Rafferty is about to face the toughest test of his unbeaten professional career when the pair meet in Manchester on Saturday night.
The Matchroom star brings a perfect 17-0 record into the contest, but the Kerry native suggests it may make for misleading reading.
The younger of two boxing brothers is adamant he is the best fighter the 29-year-old Eddie Hearn-mentored fighter has signed to fight.
The ‘Kingdown Kid’ is confident his own boxing ability and experience and is promising to be a serious problem for the highly-rated prospect.
“I believe that my boxing will shine through much brighter than his boxing on Saturday,” Walsh said when speaking to Irish-boxing.com.
“I believe he’s a good fighter. You don’t become 17-0 for no reason, but I don’t think he’s been tested the way I’m going to test him.”
Walsh comes into the fight on the back of a first career defeat.
However, his Fight of the Year contender with Eoghan Lavin was a clash he learned from and one that saw his stock raise.
He also showed his fighting spirit, fighting on despite breaking his hand as early as the second round.
The setback was followed by surgery and a demanding rehabilitation programme, but the Kerry man believes his commitment to his recovery has left him ready to return at full strength.
“I had hand surgery. I obviously broke my hand early on in the second round of the fight,” Walsh explained.
“I did all my rehab, stuck to the plan of the physio, and I knocked three weeks off of the physio work. A lot of people would skip the rehab and ignore a lot of the stuff and be lazy with it. I was fully on it every day, sticking to what the physio was saying.”
The Matchroom-promoted clash is a massive breakthrough opportunity for the boxer who was once Ireland’s youngest pro.
For Walsh, that represents another step towards the level he always wanted to compete at.
“It’s what I’ve always dreamed of since I was 18 turning pro,” he adds
“And now I’m living what I’ve always dreamed of. I’m coming to get back to winning ways.”
