Dee Walsh impresses with winning start in Belfast

Belfast rookie Dee Walsh got off to a winning start on the recent Tyson Fury-Nicolai Firtha undercard and showed just why manager Gary Hyde and several members of the boxing fraternity view him as just a little bit special.

Walsh made his debut against fellow Belfast pugilist Gerard Healy, who gave his all but found the skills of Walsh too hot to handle during their four-rounder. Dee now looks forward to his next outing and revelled in the spotlight.

“It was brilliant and Gerard was a lot tougher than I thought he would be," admitted Walsh. "I weathered the storm in the first round and I used my natural skills to outbox him. I wasn’t nervous before the fight but I got caught with a couple of shots because I wasn’t being cautious. I thought I won the fight handily enough and maybe took every round but I’ll not argue with the judges [sic] because I got the win which is the main thing. I thought that the referee was ready to jump in at one stage and I stopped throwing but he didn’t and it halted my momentum.”

Cork businessman Gary Hyde has a growing stable, with multi-talented Georgian Levan Ghvamichava and Manchester starlet Mark Heffron recently being joined by Willie Casey. Hyde also owns the signature of one of boxing's hottest prospects at the moment, Casey's former conqueror Guillermo Rigondeaux. After parting company with his talented, but frustrating, previous trio of Cubans - Luis Garcia, Alexei Collado and Mike Perez - Hyde has busied himself in putting together a refreshingly eclectic stable of fighters. Dee Walsh certainly impressed his paymaster on September 17.

“I was delighted with Dee, he showed fantastic movement and boxing ability," grinned Hyde. "Gerard Healy’s very tough but Walsh’s variation of punches and angles were superb. All of my boxers are going to the top and I wouldn’t have anything to do with them if I didn’t think that. From the third round we all saw the Dee Walsh that I see in the gym. It was his first time fighting without a vest, on a big show too, it was a tough ask. He fought an undefeated opponent, OK it was after only one fight, but Healy was game and came to win, so Dee just boxed him out of it.

"He’s pure class and was always fighting as a pro in the amateur game and now he has turned over and is already showing his excellent footwork, fierce lateral movement and great shot delivery.”