A Stitch In Time For Callum 

”King Callum Walsh 14-0, 11 KO`s successfully defended his WBC Continental Americas Super-welterweight Championship for the fourth time with a fifth round technical decision victory over Elias Espadas 23-7-1, 16 KO`s at the Chumash Casino, Santa Ynez, California. 

Following an accidental clash of heads during round two and on the recommendation of Ring Doctor Tony Hicks, who had inspected the cut on Callum`s right eyelid prior to round three and once again, the fight was halted at the beginning of round five. Callum was the decisive winner with a score of 50-40 across the board. 

Tom Loeffler of 360 Promotions who is Callum`s Promoter, prudently had renown plastic surgeon Dr Pearlman Hicks to hand.  He sealed the wound with eight stitches. Dr Pearlman Hicks has fifty years experience. He expertly sealed five cuts Vitali Klitschko suffered in his 2003 fight against WBC heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. That back then took sixty stiches applied to several skin layers. This cut is nowhere near so severe. As the saying goes: ”A stitch in times saves nine.”

The California State Athletic Commission automatically rules that Callum will not be able to fight for sixty days while he heals. Post fight, Callum has accepted a challenge from also undefeated fellow southpaw Fernando Vargas Jr 17-0, 15KO`s, and the aim is for them to fight on the undercard of the Canelo Vs Crawford Megafight in Las Vegas on September 13th. 

Tom said: ”I was very impressed by the way that Callum came out. He`s a very fast starter. You could see the distinct difference in speed, power and accuracy. This was definitely a good test for him concerning the way Elias Espadas boxed in his last fight fought against undefeated Sadriddin Akhmedov. I expected a very tough and rugged fight and that`s what we were getting, until the clash of heads in the second round. And I was impressed with how Callum retained his composure, purpose and his poise, with the blood streaming down his body, still able to engage and land on Espadas. So it went into the fifth round and the Referee called the Ring Doctor and they stopped the fight, with Callum winning every round. 

”Callum has been automatically suspended for sixty days. That gives him plenty of time and we are going to try to get him on to the Canelo VS Crawford Show and it should be fine for him to heal by then. This is the third time that Dr Pearlman Hicks has sewed up Callum. Twice on his face and once on his hand, so Callum was in good hands from one of the best plastic surgeons I`ve ever seen. 

”Callum`s on a great trajectory with his record of 14-0. This was the fourth successful defence of his WBC Continental Americas Title, learning from every fight, against solid competition. He is gaining a tremendous amount of publicity and promotion with the association and support of Dana White and everything we`ve done for his career. This would be a huge spotlight for Callum to show his talents in the ring.

”Dana supports Callum one hundred percent. He`s really taken a liking to him and a lot of great things are going to happen. He`s a rock star himself. Definitely the best combat sports promoter in the world and His Excellency Turki Al-sheikh made a wise decision, in putting the boxing business into the hand of Dana, to lead the charge and I`m going to support Dana one hundred percent with the opportunities he`s given me to showcase the fighters on UFC Fight Pass.”

So, when will Callum be ready to fight for a world title? Tom says: ”Callum is moving up very fast. I would say that within the year, he should be ready to fight for a world title. Three of more fights and he`s going to be right there to challenge anyone.”