A new era of boxing begins on Friday as the inaugural Zuffa Boxing card takes place in Las Vegas as Callum Walsh looks to star against Carlos Ocampo in a history- making event.
Ocampo comes in to the contest against Walsh with far more experience in the professional game.
Zuffa Boxing represents Dana White and TKO’s first real drop into boxing following the massive successes of the UFC and WWE respectively.
Although White was a figurehead of the promotion for Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford last September, this is the first official Zuffa Boxing card.
In the main event Walsh will look to continue his fine form, now holding an impressive 15-0 record.
Since turning over to the professional rankings in 2021 he has stopped 11 of his opponents to date and will look to make Ocampo the 12th.
White has publicly backed Walsh to become one of boxing’s next superstars and explained the comparisons between Walsh and UFC superstar Conor McGregor when speaking to the Ring Magazine.
“We’ve had a lot of success with the Irish here with Conor, and I think this kid could become extremely popular with the Irish.
“I’m not saying he’s going to be [as popular as] Conor, but he’s a great kid, and he has a really fun fighting style.
“We can take him to New York and Boston and really build him into something.”
Walsh doesn’t have an easy challenge in front of him on Friday as he takes on Mexican challenger Ocampo (38-3).
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Ocampo could prove to be a real test for Walsh, boasting far more experience having boxed 199 rounds in comparison to Walsh who has boxed just 61 in the professional game.
Ocampo comes off three early stoppages all taking place in Mexico.
Those wins came after his first round stoppage defeat to Tim Tszyu in Australia back in 2023.
Walsh vs Ocampo – Date, Venue, Start Time and Ring Walks
- The pair will fight on Friday 23rd January at the Meta APEX Arena in Las Vegas.
- Undercard bouts begin at 3pm local time (PT)/6pm ET/10am AEST/11pm GMT.
- Main event ring walks are expected to take place at 9pm local time (PT)/ 12am ET/ 5am GMT/ 3pm AEST.
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Walsh vs Ocampo – How To Watch
- Zuffa Boxing 01 is set to be aired on Paramount plus.
- A Paramount+ subscription, a subscription can be bought from £4.99 per month.
- You can also pay upfront for an annual subscription from £43.99 per annum.
Walsh vs Ocampo – Last Three Fights
Walsh
- Callum Walsh bt Fernando Vargas – Unanimous Decision
- Callum Walsh bt Elias Espadas – 5th round TKO
- Callum Walsh bt Dean Sutherland – 1st round KO
Ocampo
- Carlos Ocampo bt Eduardo Capito – 1st round TKO
- Carlos Ocampo bt Luis Morales – 2nd round TKO
- Carlos Ocampo bt Ricardo Cernas – 3rd round KO
Undercard
Alongside the main event Zuffa Boxing have put together a decent undercard.
Many unbeaten prospects look to impress on White’s first boxing card, live on Paramount+.
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- Cain Sandoval (17-0-0 15 KOs) vs Julian Rodriguez (24-1-0 15 KOs)
Super lightweight (10 rounds) - Misael Rodriguez Olivas (15-0-0 7 KOs) vs Austin Deanda (17-0-0 11 KOs)
Middleweight (10 rounds) - Omar Cande Trinidad (19-0-2 13 KOs) vs Max Ornelas (17-2-1 6 KOs)
Featherweight (10 rounds) - Floyd Diaz (13-0-0 3 KOs) vs Guillermo Gutierrez (13-2-0 1 KOs)
Bantamweight (8 rounds) - Emiliano Cardenas (9-0-0 4 KOs) vs Marcus Cortez Harris (7-1-0 5 KOs)
Bantamweight (6 rounds) - Robert Meriwether III (9-0-0 4 KOs) vs Cesar Correa (5-0-0 4 KOs)
Super featherweight (6 rounds) - Troy Nash (5-0-1 1 KOs) vs Jaycob Ramos (4-0-0 1 KOs)
Six rounds
