Walsh expects hostile Wigan crowd

The contest at the Robin Park Arena in Wigan will be Liam Walsh’s 11th fight

Norfolk boxer Liam Walsh says he will enjoy the hostility of a partisan Wigan crowd in his Commonwealth super-featherweight defence bout on 19 March.

The 24-year-old will take on John Kays from Lancashire as he defends the title he took off Maxwell Awuku in October.

Walsh told BBC Radio Norfolk: “When I first heard I was fighting away in Wigan I thought ‘I’m going to get booed and water thrown at me’.

“But it’ll be a different environment, I’ve never been booed, it’ll be nice”.

He added: “It’ll add another feather to my cap, I’ll have covered some more ground and learnt something.”

Walsh, from Cromer on the North Norfolk coast, is expecting to take around 200 fans to the Robin Park Arena.

“I’m not sure I’ll get out-cheered,” he said.

“I think a hundred of my local fans will out-cheer 500 of his, they’re so loud.”

Walsh admitted he was not sure how Kays would approach the fight.

“I had one DVD on him…on one of the fights he’s a clever neat boxer, and the other time he takes the centre of the ring and he’s aggressive,” he said.

“If he comes out being aggressive, it’s going to be a cracking fight because I’m not giving any ground to him.”