Ryan Walsh confident he can force Reece Mould out on his shield

Ryan Walsh knows that his time in the sport is coming to an end. He just can’t bring himself to say goodbye until he finds the man capable of standing toe to toe with him and trying to beat him in a fight.

Although Walsh, 28-4-2 (12 KOs) reigned as the British featherweight champion for five years and made six defenses of his title, the 38-year-old insists that he has yet to meet an opponent who has made him dip into previously untapped reserves. Walsh doesn’t want to leave boxing without finding out if he is capable of doing so. 

This weekend, Walsh takes on Reece Mould, 18-2 (6 KOs), on GBM’s latest show on Friday night and the 29-year-old from Doncaster has promised that he will meet fire with fire. Walsh isn’t willing to take him at his word, however.

“Even Lee Selby, after four rounds decided, ‘You know what, I’m going to use my longer [boxing].’ I’m not a dirty fighter, but I stay tight,” Walsh told BoxingScene. “He ended up with two cuts after four rounds. I remember feeling, ‘This is where we need it. Right in the box, right close, right up tight.’

“I’ve got little arms for fucks sake and quite quickly, within four rounds, he adapted and kept it long, whipping in these lovely body shots but I don’t think Reece has got the ability to adapt when it goes wrong. He’ll go out on his shield.”

Selby, Jazza Dickens and Maxi Hughes were all able to defuse Walsh by using their slick, smart southpaw skills to keep him offset and prevent him from gaining any momentum. Walsh is an honest fighter and although he did lose a European featherweight title fight to Dennis Ceylan eight years ago, he refuses to accept that the Danish fighter deserved the split decision victory he was awarded.

Having lost a debatable split decision to Gary Cully last November, Mould will know that he would struggle to recover from a defeat to Walsh and, for that reason, Walsh thinks that Mould’s team will preach to him the sense in boxing sensibly and exchanging when it is safe to do so. 

He believes that Mould will soon determine that they are recommending the correct course of action, he just isn’t sure whether Mould is good enough to follow it. 

“This is what I’m saying to them,” he said. “They’re going to try to get you to box. You’re going to quite quickly realize that is going to be the best way but you probably won’t have the skill set to do what they’re going to ask you to do. You’re no slick southpaw. You’re no southpaw on a tear. You’re no Maxi Hughes. You’re not Jazza Dickens and you’re not Lee Selby. And I’m not even going to talk about Dennis Ceylan because I never lost that fight.”

John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X @John_Evans79