Callum Walsh still in running to feature on Canelo-Crawford undercard as cut heals
Rising star Walsh (14-0, 11KOs) suffered a severe cut over his right eye from an accidental head-clash with opponent Elias Espadas on 21 June, with the Cork man eventually awarded a fifth-round technical-decision victory having won all four rounds against the Mexican to that point.
But Walsh's promoter, Tom Loeffler, has confirmed to The 42 that the cut has healed sufficiently to allow Walsh to prepare for a fight in September.
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While Walsh's place on the Canelo-Crawford card is not yet confirmed, the light-middleweight is understood to be firmly in the running to box live on Netflix at the 65,000-capacity Allegiant Stadium due to his association with UFC president Dana White.
White is a significant stakeholder in the Canelo-Crawford event having teamed up with Saudi Arabia's boxing power broker Turki Alalshikh, and has effectively co-promoted Walsh throughout the 24-year-old's professional career.
White, a close friend of Loeffler's, took a shine to Walsh during their first meeting three years ago and has platformed the Cobh boxer on his UFC Fight Pass streaming platform, as well as on the UFC's social media channels.
There has been speculation in recent weeks that Walsh will face his fellow 154-pound prospect Fernando Vargas Jr (17-0, 15KOs) on the Canelo-Crawford bill.
Walsh called for the fight with the Californian following his victory over Espadas in June, and Vargas Jr himself has been amenable to the idea in recent interviews. It's unclear for the moment, however, as to whether the boxers' respective teams have been able to reach an agreement for their prospective meeting.
Nicknamed 'El Feroz', Vargas Jr is the son of Mexican-American former two-time light-middleweight world champion Fernando Vargas.
In September's main event in Vegas, unbeaten American pound-for-pound star Terence 'Bud' Crawford will move up a further two weight divisions to challenge fellow modern-day great Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez for the Mexican's undisputed super-middleweight world title.
The bout between fellow four-weight world champions, which will be one of the most significant of the 21st century, will be available globally to Netflix's 300 million-plus subscribers at no additional cost.
Should he defeat the naturally larger Canelo, Crawford will join exalted company in becoming a three-weight undisputed champion. He would become the first boxer to do so in the four-belt modern era.
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