Hitman helps ‘Pretty Boy’ Paddy Walsh target success
Time spent with fellow boxing brothers Stevie and Aaron McKenna means the Walsh brothers, Liam and Paddy go into their respect fights this weekend better boxers, suggests Paddy Walsh.
The new-to-the-scene pro particularly took a lot from the experience, learning from a spar with the ultra-aggressive hard-hitting ‘Hitman’, Stevie McKenna and is putting to good use more general advice given ahead of his third pro fight.
“We travelled up to spar the McKenna brothers. I got to share the ring with Stevie McKenna, a world-level fighter with huge experience, I learnt a serious amount from the spar that I can take on board in my own game,” Walsh tells Irish-boxing.com.
“It was great to listen to the feedback from the lads, great family and great experience for me and Liam that day.”
The Tony Davitt trained, Walsh follows up his points win over experienced survival specialist John Spencer with a fight against another operator who knows his way around the ring, Dale Arrowsmith in Letterkenny on Saturday night.
It’s a difficult fight for ‘Pretty Boy’ to look pretty in but, as he points out, they are the ultimate learning fights – and he seems to think he’ll still look pretty regardless of how ugly the fight might have to be.
“My last fight with John Spencer was a great fight. It was good to get the rounds in against a very tough man that is John Spencer. It was good to look back at the fight and improve in the gym on things I could have done better. I’m in a very good fight this weekend against Dale Arrowsmith. He’s a very respected boxer who has over 100 fights and is coming off a couple of good results, so I’m looking forward to it another great learning fight for me. This is what I want moving forward learning all the time,” he adds before discussing his ring moniker.
“A lot of people say I love myself, so Pretty Boy was always going to be the name. I remember having a pair of flashy shorts when I was 13 years old and having Pretty Boy on the back of them. Nothing’s changed since!”
Upon turning over, the Kerry man, who as an amateur mixed it with the likes of Callum Walsh and Stevie Kierns, revealed he was something of a prodigal son and needed some time to get that sabbatical out of his system.
He’s been all in this year and feels the fans will see the fruits of his dedicated labour on a card topped by Joe Ward and includes an interesting title fight for James McGivern.
“I’m fully dedicated to my sport, fully focused, I’m never really out the gym. I’m always learning and it’s only now we are seeing big improvements in my game. I’m l; looking forward to performing on Saturday night. A massive thanks to my family, friends, my coaches, sponsors, and everyone involved. Looking forward to performing Saturday night.”
