Tom Loeffler feels like
Callum Walsh-Fernando Vargas Jr. is just the type of fight Turki Alalshikh wanted when he publicly discussed his hopes for the
Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford undercard.
Their 10-round junior middleweight match represents a chance for Walsh and Vargas to prove themselves on the grandest stage imaginable. Both boxers will be exposed to a gargantuan audience, which will include millions of new viewers of the sport, in the co-feature Netflix will stream September 13 to more than 300 million subscribers globally.
The winner will produce the most noteworthy win of his career and ascend in the 154-pound division. The loser will at least have demonstrated a willingness to take a difficult fight, rather than padding his record against lesser opponents.
Ireland’s Walsh (14-0, 11 KOs), who is represented by Loeffler’s 360 Promotions, is listed by most sportsbooks as a 4-1 favorite over Las Vegas’ Vargas (17-0, 15 KOs), a son of the famous former junior middleweight champion who trains him. Walsh is trained by International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Freddie Roach and has been hyped by UFC president and CEO Dana White in UFC Fight Pass main events.
“It doesn’t get any bigger than being the co-feature to Canelo-Crawford,” Loeffler told
The Ring. “You have two young, undefeated, hungry, exciting boxers fighting each other. That’s what boxing needs. Boxing needs these types of fights for the fans. This is what the fans wanna see.
"They’re both risking their undefeated records. They could easily continue to fight and continue to be undefeated for years to come, but this is a very dangerous fight for both of them.”
The same principles apply to another Alvarez-Crawford undercard fight that’ll take place prior to Walsh versus Vargas.
Alalshikh targeted
dangerous super middleweight Christian Mbilli as one of the unbeaten boxers he most wanted to showcase at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Cameroon’s Mbilli (29-0, 24 KOs), who resides and trains in Montreal, Canada, has long wanted to challenge Alvarez for the Mexican superstar’s Ring, IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 168-pound championships. Mbilli still happily accepted this high-risk, high-reward bout with hard-hitting Guatemalan contender Lester Martinez (19-0, 16 KOs).
Martinez embraced the toughest test of his career as well. Mbilli, who owns the WBC interim belt, is
The Ring’s No. 1-ranked super middleweight contender, whereas Martinez is no longer rated in the top 10 at 168.
“I think it’s a great fight between Mbilli and Lester Martinez,” Loeffler said. “It’ll be very fan friendly. They’re two big punchers.”
Another unbeaten prospect, 6-foot-9 heavyweight Ivan Dychko, will also try to legitimize himself on the YouTube portion of the Canelo-Crawford card
against American veteran Jermaine Franklin.
Only two-time heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua and two-time title challenger Dillian Whyte have defeated Franklin (23-2, 15 KOs), both on points. Kazakhstan’s Dychko (15-0, 14 KOs) is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist, but he has been matched carefully in nearly eight years as a pro.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing Ivan Dychko in the ring,” Loeffler said before he referred to promoting Gennadiy Golovkin. “He’s a huge heavyweight from Kazakhstan, and I know a few things about Kazakh boxers. Everything I’ve heard about Dychko is he’s very exciting and a top talent, so it’ll be exciting to see him in the ring against a proven veteran like Jermaine Franklin.”
Loeffler is most looking forward to seeing how Walsh, 24, handles Vargas, 28.
“Callum’s a very fast starter,” Loeffler said. “Callum starts out from the very first round with all guns blazing. And Vargas Jr. has a lotta knockouts on his record as well, so he’s not gonna be running. I think you’ll see a lot of big punches thrown very early in this fight. You’ve also got very passionate fan bases, with the Mexican-American fans supporting Vargas and Irish fans supporting Callum.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.