Callum Walsh of Ireland cracks Przemyslaw Runowski of Poland in their super welterweight fight at 3Arena on September 20, 2024 in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
It was quite the homecoming for Callum Walsh.
The undefeated junior middleweight knocked out Przemyslaw Runowski in the second round on Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. Walsh, who grew up in nearby Cork and was a multiple amateur champion, improved to 12-0, 10 knockouts.
About a minute into the first round, Walsh – who hails from Cork – landed a left cross to Runowski’s left shoulder. The shot briefly knocked the visiting Polish boxer off balance. Seconds before the bell rang to end the round, the undefeated southpaw landed a straight left that drove Runowksi into a corner.
A right-left combination to the head dropped Runowski to the canvas one minute into the second round. Runowski stayed on both knees when he was counted out at 2:04.
Immediately afterward, Runowski was upset, saying he beat the count and shouldn’t have been struck out.
“It’s unbelievable,” Walsh said in the post-fight interview. “What a night. He had never been stopped until he was hit by me. I just hit too hard. As soon as my left hand touches you on the chin, it’s over.
“I can’t wait to come back. This is going to be a recurring thing. It is not one and done. We will be back again. This is just the beginning. I am a contender. I’m not a prospect.”
Tom Loeffler, Walsh’s promoter, and UFC president Dana White were tailgating for the event. The two carried these events via stream on UFC Fight Pass.
White recently stated that he is ‘all in’ with regards to promoting boxing cards.
Walsh, 23, also built his celebrity by regularly attending UFC fight cards as White’s guest of White in the US
In his previous fight on June 7, Walsh dropped Carlos Ortiz several times before winning by knockout in the second round. On March 15, in collaboration with St. Patrick’s Day, Walsh stopped Dauren Yeleussinov in the ninth round.
Walsh currently lives and trains in Hollywood, California. He is trained by Freddie Roach.
Runowski, who lives in Slupsk, Poland, falls to 22-3-1, 6 KOs. Runowski stopped Benjamin Lamptey after round three of his previous fight on May 31.
The 30-year-old had won his previous four fights since losing by unanimous decision to then-undefeated welterweight Michael McKinson in August 2021.
In the co-feature, Ali Akhmedov (22-1, 16 KOs) overcame a knockdown in round eight to win a close split decision over Pierre Dibombe (22-2-1, 12 KOs) of France. One judge scored the match 97-92 for France’s Dibombe. The other two judges scored the fight 96-93 and 95-94 for Akhmedov of Kazakhstan, who now lives in Venice, California.
The win was the sixth in a row for Akhmedov. His lone loss came by knockout against Carlos Gongora in their December 2020 fight of undefeated super middleweights.
Dublin heavyweight Thomas Carty improved to 9-0, 8 KOs and knocked out Argentina’s Carlos Vergara (6-2, 3 KOs) after two rounds.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at (email protected)
