Callum Walsh will fight Dean Sutherland at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, but his promoter, Tom Loeffler, envisions Walsh competing in the big arena one day against other up-and-comers.

One of those future opponents might be junior middleweight Xander Zayas. 

Walsh, a 24-year-old junior middleweight, has begun to make the Irish holiday his own in New York City. This is the second time he has fought on St. Patrick’s Day weekend in New York and his third appearance at The Theater.

Zayas, an undefeated Puerto Rican contender who has been fighting on Puerto Rican Day parade weekend in New York City – following in the footsteps of Miguel Cotto and Felix Trinidad – recently stopped Slawa Spomer at the same venue. 

Loeffler gave insight into what he sees Walsh doing in a year. 

“A great fight for Callum Walsh, for example, is another young rising star, Xander Zayas, who's fought here at Madison Square Garden,” Loeffler told BoxingScene. “I think when those guys fight in the future or if those guys fight in the future, that would be at the big arena at Madison Square Garden and that's going to be a tremendous fight.”

Loeffler said that should Walsh win this weekend, the plan is to have him fight at least two more times in 2025. Walsh, 12-0 (10 KOs), turned professional in 2021 and trains under Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach. UFC CEO Dana White has tweeted his support of Walsh and even attended his last fight. And on Monday, Walsh featured on a taping of WWE’s “Monday Night Raw,” as a notable guest in attendance. 

Though Walsh isn’t fighting for a major title yet, he is doing a lot of press for someone with his record, which if nothing else is giving him experience of being promoted like a titleholder. 

Given Conor McGregor’s decline in the UFC and the legendary 38-year-old Katie Taylor potentially winding down her career, Walsh looks to fill the void those two Irish athletes leave behind. Without an Olympic medal, not many young fighters could realistically envision a fight with the likes of Zayas in their near future, yet for Walsh it isn’t far-fetched given the excitement and hype around him. 

“These are all fights, not only in the ring, but on the promotional side, it all prepares him for a much bigger stage,” Loeffler said. “The last guy he fought in Dublin [Przemyslaw Runowski] was 22-2 from Poland and had never been stopped before. Callum stopped him in the second round. Now, Dean Sutherland is 19-1, a very tough fighter coming to win. These are the types of fights that he needs to take that step towards fighting for a world title.”

Walsh is currently ranked No. 6 in the WBC and IBF title rankings. 

Sutherland, 19-1 (7 KOs), is a 26-year-old volume puncher from Aberdeen, Scotland. He looks to derail the high-profile hopes of Walsh, entering the fight on a six-fight win streak since being stopped by Louis Greene in 2022. 

So far, Walsh has been the ideal frontman, promoting his events heavily without sacrificing his training. 

“It's a fine line – you never want to take away from the fighter's preparation,” Loeffler said. "At the same time, I've seen fighters that say they just want to focus on their fights and not promote the show and then that doesn't do any good for the show itself or for their career, quite frankly.

"You have to balance it, but Callum is great at that. He understands he needs to do these types of appearances,” Loeffler said. “He’s done a bunch of interviews in New York where he was at the top of the Empire State Building with a face-off against Dean Sutherland. 

“The fighters are making weight during fight week, but he's gotten really good at it and knows how to do all the promotion that we ask of him and also make sure he’s 100 percent prepared for the fight.”

Walsh’s fight with Sutherland is scheduled for 10 rounds and will stream on UFC Fight Pass. 

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.