Freddie Roach doesn’t care if you think Callum Walsh is overrated. The Hall-of-Famer’s seen enough in the gym to plant his flag and say the Irish kid’s the real deal. While plenty of fans roll their eyes at the hype machine, Roach swears Walsh is about to make believers out of them Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium.
He gets his chance in the Netflix co-feature, right before the Canelo-Crawford main event. Walsh (14-0, 11 KOs) will face Fernando Vargas Jr. (17-0, 15 KOs) — the son of the former champ, who also happens to train him. So yeah, it’s a family business, and they’re throwing him in with Roach’s fighter to see who breaks first.
Roach Thinks This Is Walsh’s “Breakout”
“This is a great test for Callum,” Roach told Keith Idec of Ring Magazine. “Vargas is in his prime and undefeated, so it is definitely a step up for Callum. Callum has faced solid competition. That experience will be to Callum’s advantage for this fight. … Callum’s star is rising and if he fights the way we think he will, then this will be a breakout performance for him.”
Translation: Roach is doubling down on Walsh being more than a right-hand merchant. They worked on turning him into a two-fisted fighter, and according to Freddie, the sparring sessions have been brutal for anyone unlucky enough to be on the receiving end.
Vargas Jr. Isn’t Showing Up to Lose
Of course, the Vegas-born Vargas Jr. isn’t some setup opponent. He’s undefeated, he’s got his dad in his corner, and he’s been crushing C-level opposition like he’s supposed to. Roach admits Vargas has a good jab and they studied tape, but his confidence in Walsh is clear: “He’s been devastating in sparring, and I can’t think of a better place to show this off than on the Canelo-Crawford card.”
That’s a nice way of saying, “this is the stage where we make Vargas Jr. look like just another guy.”
Prediction: Someone’s 0 Goes, Probably With a Headache
Both guys are undefeated, both guys are hyped, but Walsh has the bigger machine behind him. He’s Dana White’s pet project, with UFC Fight Pass shoving him down people’s throats, and now he’s on Netflix right before boxing’s biggest event of the year. Vargas Jr. is good, but he hasn’t been in with someone who punches this hard or has Roach polishing his tools.
So here’s the call: Walsh wins by mid-round stoppage. He’ll catch Vargas with that left-right combo Roach has been bragging about, and suddenly everyone on social media will pretend they were “always high on Walsh.”
Main card (Netflix at 9 p.m. ET)
- Canelo Alvarez -165 vs. Terence Crawford +130, undisputed super middleweight title
- Callum Walsh -335 vs. Fernando Vargas Jr. +240, junior middleweights
- Christian M’billi -205 vs. Lester Martinez +150, interim WBC super middleweight title
- Mohammed Alakel -3000 vs. John Ornelas +1100, lightweights
Canelo vs. Crawford preliminary card
- Serhii Bohachuk (26-2, 24 KOs) vs Brandon Adams (25-4, 16 KOs) – Middleweight
- Ivan Dychko (15-0, 14 KOs) vs Jermaine Franklin (23-2, 15 KOs) – Heavyweight
- Reito Tsutsumi (2-0, 1 KO) vs Javier Martinez (7-2, 4 KOs) – Super featherweight
- Sultan Almohamed (debut) vs Martin Caraballo (0-0-1) – Super lightweight
- Steven Nelson (20-1, 16 KOs) vs Raiko Santana (12-4, 6 KOs) – Light heavyweight
- Marco Verde (2-0, 2 KOs) vs Sona Akale (pro debut) – Catchweight (162 lbs)