This particular fight week promises to be something of a novelty for Conah Walker.
On Saturday night, Walker fights Lewis Ritson on the undercard of the eagerly awaited flyweight fight between Sunny Edwards and Galal Yafai in Birmingham.
When the exciting welterweight checks in at the fight hotel and arrives at the various media set pieces, he will see his face on the left hand side of the fight poster. Pre-fight interviews will focus on his hopes for the future rather than his chances of upsetting the odds. On fight night, he will walk to the ring second.
Those little advantages and ego boosts are all nice little bonuses but, most importantly, they are signs that the 29-year-old from Wolverhampton is finally working to a plan.
Walker, 13-3-1 (5 KOs), has spent years trying to reach this point.
He voluntarily took on the type of thankless tasks other prospects happily push to one side and, although he endured his fair share of ups and downs, he made it through the other side.
This weekend’s fight with Lewis Ritson, 23-4 (13 KOs), has been picked for him and provided he comes through, Walker knows that there will be more big nights ahead.
“Finally all the hard work, sacrifice and taking the fights that people didn’t want to take is paying dividends,” he told BoxingScene.
“I’ll keep saying it till my face turns blue: I should be here, this is where I should be. So, there’s no shock for me. I feel privileged and humbled to be on the stage I’m at so I’m just going to utilize it and just keep doing me and enjoying it.”
A bit of promotional backing doesn’t mean that Walker is going to suddenly become a safety-first fighter and attempt to chart a comfortable passage through the welterweight division.
He came up the hard way and collected a couple of disappointing defeats as he tried to force an opening but, last August, his determination and crowd-pleasing style finally got him a slot on a big card.
He grabbed his opportunity with both hands, stopping the highly rated and unbeaten Cyrus Pattinson in eight rounds. He followed that up by blasting through Celtic champion Lloyd Germain, and then charged headlong towards a fight with Lewis Crocker, the man widely recognized as the most destructive puncher on the British welterweight scene.
In June, Walker and Crocker produced one of the best fights of 2024. Although he lost a close 10-round decision, Walker enhanced his reputation as one of the country’s most entertaining fighters.
Walker isn’t going to change now. His no-nonsense attitude has got him this far and it will take him as far as his ability will carry him.
“I know I’ve got losses on my record but anyone who’s watched me fight and knows me is going to tune in because they know what sort of fight it’s going to be,” he said.
“Eddie Hearn is fully behind me. The team I’m at, I get on with them all. Things are good. I’ve just got to stay hungry and keep doing what I’m doing in the gym and performing. I’m hitting [personal bests] again for this camp and I’m getting better. I’m just reveling in it all.
“It’s all new to me but it’s good because, obviously, when you’ve got plans in place you can then make plans outside. I’m in boxing to change mine and my family’s lives. Having a plan and having some decent money chucked at me and a plan to make even more money. That’s the bottom line, securing a better life for my family and me.
“It’s all being put in front of me, I’ve just got to keep doing my job.”
There are many sensible reasons for choosing Ritson as Walker’s opponent. The 31-year-old Ritson is an accomplished, recognized name whose determination to get on the front foot should make for an entertaining spectacle. The fight also gives Walker the chance to better the performance of one of his welterweight rivals.
In May, Paddy Donovan boxed calmly, gave up ground and tamed Ritson before upping the tempo and breaking the former British lightweight champion down in nine rounds.
Whereas the slick, flashy Donovan took his time, Walker won’t. He will stride out to center ring and invite Ritson to join him.
“I’d like to think that I should do a better job than Paddy but I’m not putting anything past Ritson because he’d had a little bit of time-out before the Paddy fight but now he’s been back in there and he’s got the ring rust off, he’s going to be a better fighter,” he said.
“I’m preparing for a top-class fighter and he has fought at the top level. People can’t write him off.
“Obviously, he only knows one way and that’s coming forward. In all fairness, I don’t really take too many backwards steps either and it’s just going to be whoever does the pressure fighting better.”
Given Walker’s style and his willingness to have a fight with anyone, it comes as no surprise to hear that he became a big admirer of Ritson’s as the Geordie tore a swath through the British lightweight division and won a Lonsdale Belt to keep in just eight months.
Although he has put together some useful wins since, Ritson’s heyday was six months and 12 pounds ago and although he appears much happier at welterweight, time remains undefeated.
Walker is certain that this is his time and he wants to kick things off by beating Ritson at his own game.
“I was a fan but what’s that saying? ‘When your fans become your foes’ or something like that? Idols become your rivals,” he said.
“I wouldn’t cast him as an idol – I’ve never looked up to him or anything like that – but I definitely have tried to emulate his jab and his pressure. He was just doing things that no one else was doing at the time.
“He has a ramrod jab and he was obliterating guys. He has a very fan-friendly style so a lot of people were behind him, rooting for him.
“It just so happens I’m fighting him and while I respect his abilities, I just think I’m better.”
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
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