Kevin Walsh vs Matt Doherty (23-03-2024) Full Fight
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Transcript
00:00Gentlemen, you received instructions in the dressing room.
00:04I expect a good, clean fight, protect yourselves at all times, obey my commands at all times.
00:10Touch them up.
00:11All right.
00:12We're just about ready to get underway.
00:15Ray, Matt, Kevin Walsh, rather, has fans on all sides of the arena tonight.
00:20I mean, he has brought a tremendous crowd.
00:22He's 11-0.
00:23And if he wins this fight here tonight, and again, we're looking very far ahead, you could
00:29see him headlining here in this arena very soon.
00:32I think that is the next logical step if he pulls out a win tonight.
00:36And we know there's been some bad blood between Kevin Walsh and Mike Bounds.
00:39And could you imagine the crowd in this arena with those two fighters, each side, fans spilling
00:44over into the concourse?
00:45I mean, it would be an amazing vibe.
00:48It's already filling it here tonight with Matt Doherty and Kevin Walsh.
00:51I thought the same thing when you said it, like, he could be an event here.
00:57Absolutely.
00:58I mean, 11-0, sure.
00:59Yeah.
01:00The charisma he got, I love his attitude in and outside the ring.
01:04With all this hype and yelling and screaming, he's still very calm.
01:08Yes.
01:09You're right, Ray.
01:10That moment doesn't get to him, right?
01:12It's not about the showboating and the dancing, but when the bell rings, it's all business.
01:16And it's been that way for Walsh throughout his career.
01:18You see in this corner, he's got Mark DeLuca, one of the more established, well-known fighters
01:22in this neck of the woods, the Cappiello brothers, who basically have raised him in the boxing
01:26ring.
01:28And not to be outdone, Matt Doherty coming back for the first time in three years, had
01:32a really nice run here with CES back in 2017.
01:35He beat Julio Perez, he beat Sito Hoff, and he was the underdog in those fights.
01:40He wasn't supposed to win those fights, right?
01:41Yes.
01:42Those were guys who were, at the time, New England prospects or guys who were being brought
01:45up, and Doherty went in there and beat them both, and then he's had some wars with Ray
01:49Marlette, undefeated at the time, Mike Juan Williams, who he went eight rounds with.
01:53So you know Doherty, A, has a good chin, and B, is just a tough guy.
01:56He comes in all the time, they say A-side, B-side, I don't know, but I'll give it.
02:03He comes in as the B-side, but as the first round goes, you're like, whoa, man, this
02:08kid's coming to fight, he's coming in right now, he's coming at Kevin Walsh, he lets those
02:13hands go, and he doesn't throw well for MMA fighters, he goes perfectly, and Kevin Walsh
02:20is patient, calm, and he picks by rounds, he picks by rounds.
02:26No, that's a great point, Ray, because we've always talked about in the past when MMA fighters
02:30have transitioned to boxing, sometimes they just look like MMA fighters trying to box,
02:35but Doherty has looked and developed into a boxer over the years, hasn't had a pro MMA
02:40fight since, you're talking 2015, 2016, so he's a boxer now, right?
02:46Those days were in the past, and he looks the part, and he's shown that the little things
02:50Ray, as you like to see, from a boxer, Doherty has shown that in the years past.
02:54Yes, he's a boxer that does MMA now, he's not a boxer, MMA does boxing now.
03:02Nice pace established thus far by Walsh, again, this one's scheduled for eight rounds, Walsh
03:07in the blue and white, Doherty in the black trunks, nice exchange, and he's got Doherty
03:11on the canvas.
03:12Beautiful, beautiful.
03:14We all know Doherty's going to come at you and go wide, so what they're keeping Walsh,
03:20I believe, is calm, let him rush in, sit down, and just pop that one, too, and that's what
03:26he caught him with, that straight right hand.
03:28No, you're 100% right, Ray, he was so calm during that exchange that when he saw Doherty
03:33come forward, I think he just saw the opening and looked so poised doing it, I mean, it's
03:37just the three-four punch combo, down went Doherty, and there we go, there's a quick
03:42ten-eight round right out of the gate, take a look at the replay here.
03:44Take a look at the replay right here, see how calm he is?
03:47You're going to see Doherty jump in, and as he jumps in with that head high, there goes
03:51that right hand straight down the pipe, he's very calm, give him angles, but when he jumps
03:58in, just sit and let those hands go.
04:01And that's what Doherty's going to do, he's going to come at you, he's now looking to
04:03circle and really pace himself, and perhaps after having this much time off, fatherhood
04:09has become a part of his life, he has a new career outside of boxing, you wonder if Doherty
04:14comes into this knowing, this is where my gas tank is, I may let it go in the first
04:18four rounds, if I don't win, I don't win, but I'm going to give it the college try,
04:22as you say, because you never really know.
04:24That's Doherty's attitude every time, I'm not picked to win, so I'm coming in and giving
04:28everything I got here.
04:29Well, he paid the price there at the end of the round, Walsh scoring the knockdown with
04:33a good three-four punch combo, and a good start for King Kevin Walsh trying to take
04:38home the vacant New England Lightweight title.
04:41By the way, worth mentioning, the last fighter to hold this belt was the late Zack Ramsey
04:44in 2017, a fighter whose life and career cut tragically short many years ago.
04:52Doherty of course also the New England Super Featherweight title holder.
04:55And even though this is a vacant title here, Walsh walked in with a belt, so you've got
05:01to take the belt from Walsh.
05:02I agree.
05:08Matt Doherty, as he mentioned, has had some wars in the ring, Mike Vaughn-Williams, Ray
05:11Moillette, back in 2024, Rudy Ochoa, who was 9-0 at the time, went the distance in that
05:16fight.
05:17So, you know, he's here for the long haul.
05:18We don't know how the three years and being 35 is going to affect him.
05:22Is he the same Matt Doherty in his early 30s who could withstand those ring wars, or has
05:28he worn down?
05:28We're going to find out.
05:32Walsh is very patient.
05:34He found a home for his right hand.
05:37He's popping it right down the middle.
05:39He's looked very good, Ray.
05:40You've got to remember, too, he didn't have a very long amateur background.
05:43He's kind of a late bloomer.
05:44He's 31, with 11 fights under his belt, and only turned pro a few years ago.
05:48So he was somebody in the late 20s getting a start.
05:52And I think he knew, I'm not going to go in there and have a 100-fight amateur background
05:57at my age.
05:57I'm going to come there and get ready.
05:58And so the fighter that's still kind of learning on the job each time he gets in there.
06:02He is.
06:03He's learned the job.
06:04He's learned in the gym.
06:05He's got the right people in his corner to teach him.
06:09You just don't have to learn in the fight.
06:11You want to learn by listening to your coaches.
06:14And you know, we sat down, me and him.
06:16He asked me questions.
06:18He asked his other guys, like myself, legends, you know, how did I do?
06:22What do you think?
06:23He watched his tape.
06:26He's got the right people around him.
06:27He's got teachers around him.
06:32One minute to go here in round number two.
06:33Once again, you're watching us on Swerve Combat.
06:35Michael Parenti and Sucre Reyolvera bringing you this New England lightweight title bout.
06:41Matt Daugherty in the black trunks taking on King Kevin Walsh in the blue and white.
06:47Nice four-five punch combo again by Walsh.
06:51Starting to do his best work later in the round.
06:53That was a four-punch, one-two, one-two.
06:56And each one caught him.
06:59But Daugherty, as he normally does, he's just going to keep coming.
07:04He knows nothing but to come forward.
07:07You know, and it sometimes works for you, and it sometimes works against you.
07:11But that's the style.
07:15Kind of reminds me of the old days.
07:17Patriots football, Pittsburgh Steelers football, and Bill Belichick used to say,
07:21look, the Steelers are the Steelers.
07:22This is what they do.
07:23It doesn't change.
07:25Exactly right.
07:31There it is.
07:32Two rounds in the books.
07:33We've got a barn burner here for this New England lightweight title.
07:36We're going to send it back to the studio.
07:37Stay with us on Swear of Combat.
08:04Welcome back to Bally's Twin River Lincoln.
08:26Michael Parente joined by Sucor Ray Oliveira.
08:29We're about to get into round number three of this scheduled eight-round bout
08:32between Matt Daugherty and the Black Trunks and Kevin Walsh and the Blue and White.
08:36And Ray, as expected, Daugherty's just coming right at him.
08:39Yeah, during that break, I'm watching the corners.
08:43And, you know, we were saying how Walsh is very calm.
08:46His corner's also calm.
08:48Yes.
08:48And Daugherty, how he just comes forward.
08:50And, you know, that's his kind of style.
08:52When I'm looking at the corner, his corner's the same way.
08:55You know, is he down two rounds in a row?
08:58Two rounds, yes, I believe.
08:59The first round was 10-8.
09:01But, you know, there's no rush here.
09:02You've got six more rounds to go.
09:05That's interesting, Ray, because sometimes a fighter can develop that trait from the
09:10corner.
09:11If the corner's panicking, the fighter's going to panic.
09:12Yes, exactly.
09:13I was telling my guys that a couple days in the gym.
09:17You know, another coach is yelling and screaming.
09:21And I said, just back off.
09:23Let me take this.
09:24Young man, calm down.
09:26It ain't life or death.
09:28Calm down.
09:29He was calm.
09:30He did everything I want him to do.
09:32There you go.
09:32It's about how calm.
09:33If you are nervous, the fight is nervous.
09:35If you are calm, the fight is calm.
09:37That's what I believe.
09:42Daugherty really trying to charge his way in now and perhaps box on the inside a little
09:45bit more.
09:46But that's kind of that dirty boxing style, right?
09:48That's the MMA right there.
09:49Yes.
09:49That's what I'm doing.
09:50He laid that head on the chest and rubbed it into him.
09:53That's the kind of stuff that adds up over the course of a long fight.
09:57Eventually, you have to land something of substance.
09:59But those are the little things that some fighters forget to do.
10:02And Daugherty is a guy that sometimes lives off that kind of style.
10:05And this is Daugherty's style.
10:07Yes.
10:07Even though I said that Conor's got to stay calm and keep him calm.
10:10But this is Daugherty's style.
10:14He just comes.
10:15He's what they call a windburner or something.
10:19Yes.
10:19You know, he just comes.
10:22Sean Farley in the corner of Matt Daugherty.
10:24I remember Sean Farley from years back.
10:25Had Augustin Morris.
10:27Yes.
10:27Very good 135 pounder.
10:33And he had another heavyweight.
10:34But I just can't remember the name of the fighter.
10:35But he's worked with a lot of guys in this neck of the woods.
10:37And it's been some time since we've seen him.
10:39And of course, I mentioned the Cappiello's.
10:42Mark DeLuca and Kevin Walsh's corner.
10:44Giving a lot of exceptional tutelage and just years of experience.
10:48They're passing down to this fighter.
10:5240 seconds to go in round number three.
10:55This right here.
10:56Kevin's allowing.
10:59Whoa, a little loud in there.
11:01But he's got to stay calm.
11:03Got to stay calm, Kevin.
11:04Here come those flurries again.
11:07And they're landing here.
11:08Daugherty's in some trouble here in these final 20 seconds.
11:14This fight might get stopped here.
11:15Daugherty's been grabbing hold.
11:17No standing eight count in Rhode Island.
11:20Daugherty wisely tying him up.
11:21Still 10 seconds to go.
11:22He has taken at least eight or 10 shots here in the last 30 seconds.
11:28And again, wisely just wrapping him up.
11:30Get to the corner, regroup.
11:33You see a welt opening up over Daugherty's left eye.
11:36Some real damage right here.
11:37He's got some bumping on his head.
11:38Both eyes must be swollen up.
11:39Real damage to stay there until the end of that third round by Daugherty.
11:43I have Daugherty winning that round so far in the beginning.
11:47But that last 30 seconds,
11:49you know, Walsh just made it up on here.
11:52Only got an eight count or stoppage.
11:54So I gave that round also to our Walsh.
11:57And I agree with you on that too.
11:58And perhaps there's that internal gloss for Kevin Walsh.
12:03He goes, you know what?
12:03Hasn't been my best round.
12:05I got 30 seconds.
12:06If I let my hands go, I can land on this guy.
12:09You already see it.
12:09As you see right here, he just sat down and said,
12:13yo, let me put it right there.
12:14Every punch he threw was great.
12:17Down the pipe.
12:17There was no hooks whatsoever.
12:20Everything down the pipe.
12:21He didn't miss.
12:21I mean, right down that pipe.
12:25And that's despite Daugherty keeping the hands tight,
12:29trying to stop Walsh from doing that look in there in the end.
12:35I got to give another nod to Peter Zimbel.
12:37He's watching us tonight.
12:38He heavyweighted that.
12:40He's the one following the train.
12:41It was Alexis Santos, if you remember.
12:43I was trying to remember the name.
12:45And we saw him in New Hampshire many years back.
12:47And it was always fun to watch Alexis fight.
12:50And now Sean Farley, of course, has his hands full here
12:52at Matt Daugherty.
12:53Round number four getting underway.
12:54Again, this one's scheduled for eight.
12:56We're on swerve combat from Bally.
12:58Beautiful uppercut.
12:59Beautiful uppercut by Walsh.
13:01Another two-punch combo there.
13:01He stepped to the left and threw that uppercut.
13:05You know Walsh is feeling good here.
13:06He's feeling confident.
13:08In the back of his mind, knows he can do what he wants
13:10when he needs to do it.
13:11Yeah, he's staying patient.
13:13No matter if I get him out in the fourth round
13:15or the eighth round, I'm going to win this fight by points.
13:18And Daugherty, of course, doing what he does best,
13:21just hanging in there.
13:22A tough chin.
13:22And he went down to round one,
13:23but with sort of pretty tough flurry there
13:25at the end of round three.
13:26And managed to, again, in those final 15 seconds,
13:30grab hold of Walsh and just tie those hands up
13:32to get to the bell.
13:33We'll see if Walsh can get it.
13:34Rather, Daugherty can get his footing back
13:36and get those legs back from under him
13:38and have a better fourth round.
13:40Daugherty, not a big puncher, Ray.
13:42So if he's going to turn this around,
13:43it's really got to start now
13:44as we're nearing the halfway point.
13:46He's definitely not a big puncher,
13:47but his aggression, you know, coming at you frustrates you.
13:52It gets you out of your game plan.
13:54And, you know, I don't think he's going to get Walsh
13:57out of his game plan.
13:57He's calm.
13:59You know, he might get that little temperament
14:00once in a while.
14:01And as we've seen last round,
14:02that little temperament helped him out.
14:10And Walsh doing a good job,
14:12despite Daugherty coming forward the entire fight.
14:14Some fighters don't handle that pressure well.
14:16They don't box well when they're boxing in a circle,
14:19but Walsh does well.
14:20And there he is using that jab as a distance fighter.
14:22He's coming in with his head.
14:24He's not coming in just throwing punches,
14:25which he should be doing.
14:26You're going to rush after someone,
14:28come in throwing punches,
14:29or you're going to get counted if you run in.
14:31And that's exactly what Walsh is doing.
14:41Not quite a little mixing there.
14:48Just a lot of Daugherty coming in
14:50and grabbing and trying to dirty box
14:53by rubbing his head in.
14:54Yep.
14:5545 seconds to go in round four.
14:57Again, this one's scheduled for eight.
14:59The vacant New England lightweight title on the line.
15:05He says Walsh going to step to his right.
15:07You got to let that right hand coming over
15:08Daugherty's front left hand.
15:12Which is why Daugherty's eye is swollen.
15:14That's why he wants to go right there
15:16and throw that right hand.
15:20We'll see if Walsh has another late flurry in him.
15:22He tends to close these rounds in style here.
15:29And there he goes.
15:31That little five, six, seven punch combo
15:33right there to Pepper Daugherty.
15:34Daugherty giving it back to him a little bit,
15:35having fun in there.
15:37It's been a very good entertaining fight.
15:38Credit to both sides here.
15:39I love it on the scene from Kevin Walsh.
15:41Loving the toughness and tenacity of Daugherty.
15:43But Walsh, it's certainly a different level
15:45of fight here tonight.
15:47Yeah.
15:47Even though Daugherty did more aggressiveness,
15:54more rubbing the head,
15:56Kevin was allowing him to do it.
15:58You can see that at the end of the 10 second.
16:00You see right here, 10 second belly.
16:02He turned him and he picked it up.
16:04So he won that round.
16:06There was a round that he could win
16:07without throwing a punch.
16:10Walsh did that before.
16:11He threw punches at the last 10 seconds,
16:13but he controlled the beginning of the fight.
16:16Yes, he didn't throw no punches,
16:17but he controlled the fight.
16:18And you do see little bouts of that poise
16:21here and there from Walsh.
16:22In that last cut that we saw
16:23as Daugherty had his head down
16:25and he's burrowing in there.
16:26Walsh is calm.
16:27He's just laying back on the ropes,
16:29waiting for the opportunity, like you said,
16:30to turn Daugherty
16:31and then let go at five or six shots.
16:33And it's just, it's something that, Ray,
16:35you know, you teach it in the gym,
16:36but you got to apply it when the bell rings.
16:38Bingo.
16:39In between the ropes.
16:40And that's what Walsh has done tonight.
16:42Round five, getting underway here.
16:44Again, we're scheduled for eight.
16:45Michael Parente and Super Ray Oliveira
16:47joining you on Swerve Combat.
16:51Still two more fights to go,
16:52including our co-main event
16:53in our eight round main event
16:54for the WBC US silver lightweight title.
16:57Two more great fights to go.
16:59Very good fights coming up.
17:01And we're watching another very good one here
17:03is Kevin Walsh.
17:05Taking on Matt Daugherty in the black trunks.
17:21Sometimes I do think Kevin's a little bit patient,
17:25but that's his style.
17:25He's patient, it's his style.
17:28Can't get him out of his style,
17:29but it works for him.
17:33And that could be a pacing issue,
17:34again, as we've talked about.
17:35It's an eight round fight.
17:36You wonder if this were a six round,
17:38would he be picking it up more here in the fifth?
17:41Theoretically, you would say so.
17:42This is where I tell fighters
17:44when they pace theirself.
17:46I go, you know what?
17:48You know you're in shape.
17:49Did you train?
17:51Did you do everything you had to do?
17:53So why second guess yourself in a fight?
17:55They say, I'm not second guessing myself.
17:57I'm just pacing myself.
17:59Pacing yourself to me is guessing.
18:01Do I have enough win?
18:03I knew I had enough win.
18:04And I'm going to throw 100 punches
18:05in the first round,
18:06and 200 punches last round.
18:08They're left there by Daugherty,
18:10or Walsh rather,
18:10now starting to pummel Daugherty again
18:12against the ropes.
18:15Daugherty wants more.
18:16He should give him more.
18:17Walsh will certainly do it.
18:20Spins up again, another right hand by Walsh.
18:21He stepped to the right,
18:22and he threw that overhand right.
18:23Beautiful.
18:27Still plenty of time in this round,
18:29just over a minute,
18:30as Walsh is starting to really pick apart Daugherty
18:32here in round number five.
18:35This is where I say,
18:38why let a fighter last?
18:41If you could get him out,
18:42get him out,
18:42because Daugherty is roughhousing you.
18:46He's putting his head on you.
18:47You get a cut in there,
18:48and then you're out for a little while.
18:49Exactly.
18:49That's a very good point.
18:50So get him out of there.
18:51You got to be cognizant of that fighting style.
18:58The accidental clash of heads
18:59that we've seen in the past,
19:00and you're right.
19:01He could set a fighter back several months
19:02when he's in a real good groove.
19:04As Walsh is right now.
19:07We'll see if he picks up the pace here.
19:08Final 30 seconds of round number five.
19:19Another good right hand there by Walsh.
19:22Flipping Daugherty again.
19:24It's kind of a repeat performance here
19:26in these closing seconds
19:27where Walsh just seems to find that second win.
19:29When he throws four punches down the middle,
19:32they all land.
19:33Why even throw hooks?
19:34Haha.
19:36Final 10 seconds.
19:38Daugherty just trying to hang in there.
19:41Walsh lunging in,
19:42and there it goes.
19:43Five rounds in the books.
19:44It's been wildly entertaining.
19:46Don't go anywhere.
19:47We've got more to come on Swerve Combat.
20:34Welcome back to Valley's Twin River, Lincoln.
20:37We're starting to reach the latter stage of this bout.
20:40It's been all Kevin Walsh.
20:42No question about that.
20:43We've had some questions in the first two fights
20:45about which way it would go.
20:46There's really no such indecision here thus far.
20:48Walsh has dominated this fight.
20:50He's turned on the pace in the later stages of each round
20:53to put a punctuation
20:55or really an exclamation point on his performance.
20:57And of course, Matt Daugherty
20:59in the black trunks doing what he does best,
21:00just charging in
21:01and trying to find something that can work.
21:03Walsh, Ray, has been very patient.
21:05Definitely patient.
21:07He's picking his shots.
21:10You know, he throws that four-punch,
21:11and he dies off then.
21:14He throws another four-punch.
21:15I think this round here
21:18should be when we probably want to stop
21:20and get it over and done with.
21:24And you wonder,
21:24even though Daugherty keeps coming forward,
21:26how much he really has left to retain.
21:27He's taken a lot of punishment tonight.
21:29And that right eye looks very terrible.
21:32He's losing his footing a little bit more
21:34with each shot, as you see.
21:42And we know Daugherty's been in some ring wars,
21:44and he's gone the distance with some great fighters.
21:46But Ray, you know, by the time,
21:47as they say, he's undefeated, right?
21:49Yes, he's definitely undefeated.
21:51Catches up.
21:53Catches up with everybody.
21:54You wonder if he's starting to catch up with Daugherty,
21:56who's coming back at age 35
21:58after a four-year layoff
22:00as Walsh trying to land an uppercut there.
22:01Daugherty, he has nothing to,
22:05you know, say this is his last fight.
22:08Yeah, he was a great fighter in the ring.
22:11He always came to fight
22:12and always gave his best.
22:13And there were fights there that,
22:15like we said earlier,
22:16that he was picked to lose and he won.
22:18He has nothing to fall down on.
22:19A lot of guys who are incredibly active
22:21who wouldn't fight Kevin Walsh,
22:23nevermind after four years off.
22:25And that's without knowing
22:26the level of training he's put in during that time.
22:28But regardless,
22:29that's a very tall order to come back
22:31and take that kind of fight.
22:32But this is what Matt Daugherty wanted.
22:33He had that fight against Paolo D'Souza.
22:36He obviously liked the outcome of getting the win,
22:38but just didn't feel fulfilled in the end
22:40and wanted more out of it.
22:41And this is, you know,
22:42man of his word coming in there against Walsh,
22:44getting a title opportunity
22:45and getting a chance to fight on swerve combat
22:47in front of a packed house at Ballyston River.
22:50What more could you ask for?
22:51Not a lot of guys get that opportunity.
22:52Not at all.
22:54Final minute here of round six,
22:55a bit of a slower pace here.
22:56But again,
22:57we've seen Walsh pick it up
22:58in those final 35, 40 seconds.
23:02Looks like now he's just starting to toy
23:04with Daugherty a bit.
23:10Will we see the ensuing flurry?
23:12I'm definitely playing with him right now.
23:12Sure.
23:13That's what, you know,
23:14you don't want to do,
23:15just get him out.
23:16He's from Brockton,
23:18Marvin Hagler.
23:19Don't play with your meat.
23:22Body shot there by Walsh.
23:24Daugherty's still coming forward.
23:26He'd love to see it.
23:27And he's not going to stop doing that
23:28until they tell him to stop.
23:33Daugherty just trying to wrap up here
23:35and get back to the corner
23:36and get to round seven.
23:44This is where the experience comes in, right?
23:46Yes, did Walsh win that fight?
23:48Yeah, but he played in that round.
23:50Let's not play.
23:51If you can get your fighter out,
23:52get him out.
23:53And you don't have to throw big bombs.
23:55This is, as we've seen earlier,
23:57this is all a 10-punch combination.
23:59Referee would jump in and stop the fight.
24:00He's mostly in the 8-pound here.
24:04End it, get it over with.
24:06Referee Ricky Gonzalez,
24:08who has been on top of the action
24:09from round number one,
24:10and you know,
24:11he'll certainly be keeping an eye on Daugherty,
24:12and as he checks in now on the corner,
24:15and he'll be keeping an eye on that as it goes
24:17in the bell ring to round seven.
24:18If there's, like you said, Ray,
24:20any sign of danger,
24:21he'll probably step in and wave it off
24:22and save Daugherty from any further harm.
24:25And you know, you brought up a very good point
24:29earlier in the fight
24:30about the possibility of accidental clash of heads
24:34or a cut,
24:34and as the opponent,
24:36who is clearly on the losing end of the fight,
24:38gets more desperate,
24:39that's how those accidents tend to happen.
24:41He's definitely desperate.
24:43He's an MMA fighter.
24:45Daugherty's doing exactly the right thing.
24:47He's laying his head on him,
24:48rubbing it on him.
24:49Cause a cut.
24:50The fighter,
24:52once he gets cut and can't continue,
24:54then Daugherty wins the fight.
24:55So he's doing what he has to do.
24:57If I can't hit him,
24:58I'm gonna hit him in my head.
24:59Here we go.
25:01Round number seven.
25:01Kevin Walsh in the blue and white trunk
25:03sticking on Matt Daugherty in the black.
25:06This one for the vacant New England lightweight title.
25:09There's a little jab there by Daugherty.
25:11This fight's been all Kevin Walsh
25:12as Michael Parente and Sucre,
25:14Ray Oliveira bring you all the action
25:16here on Swear of Combat.
25:19And sometimes, Ray,
25:20lopsided fights
25:21or fights that are more or less one-sided
25:23aren't entertaining.
25:24But this one has been exactly that.
25:26It's been very entertaining.
25:27And that's because Matt Daugherty
25:28just continues to fight.
25:31And regardless of what the scorecards look like,
25:33you're gonna get your money's worth.
25:33And you have gotten your money's worth
25:35in this one for sure.
25:36Definitely.
25:36You know,
25:37passes coming.
25:39You know what,
25:39no other.
25:39This won't be seen through all the time.
25:41I just,
25:42like I said,
25:43like to see Kevin Walsh,
25:44stop playing with your knees.
25:45Stop throwing your hands somewheres else.
25:48Just do what you're doing
25:50and get it out of here.
25:53You know,
25:53Walsh definitely getting more rounds
25:55into tonight after a first round
25:56stoppage in his last fight,
25:57which was in February.
25:59So,
26:00not that that's by design,
26:01but just by coincidence.
26:02I can see fighters when they say,
26:04you know,
26:04I want to get rounds.
26:05Get rounds when you've been out
26:07for four or five years
26:10or months or so.
26:11But right now,
26:11you got rounds in the gym.
26:14You need to get rounds
26:15or you could get hurt.
26:16And you forget,
26:17it's only been a month
26:18since that last fight.
26:20And you and I watched ringside.
26:22It was a very,
26:23you know,
26:23it was very decisive.
26:24Big,
26:24big knockout victory for Walsh
26:25was his first one in two years.
26:28And I like it that,
26:29you know,
26:30that last fight was a one round knockout.
26:31And I told him,
26:32I said,
26:33I hope you're not going to go
26:34to the thing
26:34you're going to knock out everybody.
26:36He said,
26:36no,
26:36definitely not,
26:37coach,
26:37definitely not.
26:38I'm only going to do what I always do.
26:40I'll box the guy.
26:41If it comes,
26:41it comes.
26:42Well,
26:43right now,
26:44you can have it.
26:44Sure.
26:45Take it.
26:46You're right.
26:46There's that line,
26:47right?
26:47Okay.
26:47I'm going to wait for it to come,
26:48but you got to have the instinct
26:50to know when it's there.
26:53And we'll see if Walsh
26:54finds that second gear.
26:5655 seconds to go here in round number seven.
27:01Doherty to his credit,
27:02as he always does,
27:03continues to hang in there.
27:05And this way you could lose
27:07crowd or fans that,
27:08you know,
27:09if you had them,
27:10you play with them.
27:11You're not going to use draw fans,
27:12but what I always said,
27:14I always want my opponent's fans.
27:16You might lose your opponent's fans
27:19by playing like this.
27:21And you see there,
27:22he landed a nice shot.
27:23He had Doherty backpedaling in his corner,
27:24telling him to come forward,
27:26but he said,
27:26Walsh backed out.
27:3115 seconds to go in round seven.
27:33Like I said,
27:34this is my opinion.
27:35I'm not right about everything.
27:37I'm 50-50 though.
27:46There's the bell.
27:51So he got seven rounds out of this battle.
27:53And there were times where
27:55round two,
27:55round three,
27:56we didn't think he'd get this far,
27:57but Doherty has to his credit,
27:58hung in there.
27:59It could be equal parts.
28:01Walsh backing off a bit,
28:02but also you've got to really credit
28:03Doherty's toughness as well.
28:05I don't think Doherty...
28:06Matt, what's wrong with Matt?
28:11Matt is lashing me.
28:13I think Walsh is allowing him.
28:15Yeah.
28:15To last this long.
28:18No, there's no doubt.
28:19A little bit of both sides of play there for sure.
28:24I mean, all Kevin got to do is,
28:26like you said,
28:26we know you get that second gear,
28:28hit it.
28:30Stop playing with the gas
28:31and just hit that second gear.
28:34Put the throttle down.
28:35Let's go get them out of here.
28:38That was worth mentioning
28:39as we go into the eighth round.
28:40And by all accounts,
28:42Walsh is probably up seven,
28:44nothing in this play.
28:45I'd be very hard-pressed to see a 6-1 card anywhere.
28:49Doherty does have five knockouts on his resume.
28:51He would need to pull out a pretty big miracle here
28:53to win this fight.
28:54And try to dig into that well.
28:55He is Irish, right?
28:57He is.
28:58We are in the month of the Irish.
29:01It's still technically St. Patrick's Day season, right?
29:03Yes.
29:06That's March Madness as well, right?
29:08That may be copyrighted,
29:09but it's March Madness.
29:10My card is all messed up.
29:12Everybody's bracket.
29:13I believe this is one of the first times
29:15they've said that Yahoo does not have a perfect bracket.
29:17Nope.
29:18Going into the round of 32,
29:19which is unbelievable.
29:20Shows you just how anything can happen.
29:21And we'll see if anything can happen here tonight
29:23if Doherty is going to put one final flurry together here
29:27in these final two and a half minutes
29:28and pull off the mother of all upsets against Kevin Walsh.
29:32But Walsh staying calm as he always does.
29:36And the flip side,
29:37we'll see if Walsh tries to close the show.
29:38You see his corner kind of waving him in,
29:41wanting to see him come forward.
29:44This is where you got to please the crowd now.
29:47You got to give them what they want.
29:48But the crowd wants a stoppage.
29:50You know, they want to see you go ahead.
29:54You're ahead on the scorecard.
29:55You're doing everything you want.
29:56The guy can't land a punch on you.
29:58So give the crowd what he wants.
30:00And it's tough, right, Ray?
30:01Because you have to know that that opponent can't hurt you
30:03before you go and execute that kind of game plan.
30:05If you're facing a dangerous plunger,
30:07you can swing one from the hip.
30:08You probably wouldn't do that.
30:09Yes, exactly.
30:11You know, you're a performer.
30:12Out loud, you're a performer.
30:14So we want, yes, you're performing.
30:16But we know the crowd isn't stupid.
30:18These boxing fans, especially here in Rhode Island,
30:20are not stupid.
30:21We know you can stop this guy.
30:22Stop playing with your knee and get him out.
30:25Final minute and a half here of this eighth and final round.
30:31And we'll see if Walsh kicks it into that high gear again
30:34and tries to send the crowd home
30:35or the Brockton contingent home happy.
30:38Either way, they'll be going home happy
30:40when that bell rings.
30:41Walsh, by all accounts, is going to take home the title here.
30:43But we'll see what he has left here.
30:45He's going to throw it back into a corner now.
30:48I think the only people that are going to probably
30:51be a little angry would be his partner and myself.
30:53But we want this fight stopped.
30:55We know it should have been stopped.
31:02He did everything perfect.
31:04He outboxed him, patiently connected, made him miss.
31:08And he's going to, as we believe,
31:11he's going to throw another bell around his waist.
31:13And if this, if I say if, this is the end for Matt Doherty,
31:17I mean, what a way to go out, right?
31:18Yeah.
31:18Come back four years long, you take on King Kevin Walsh
31:21and you go eight rounds.
31:22I mean, you hang your hat on that all day.
31:25Beautiful.
31:25He's had a wonderful career in boxing and MMA
31:28and really been a...
31:30Not just that.
31:30He ended his career with myself and you calling this last fight.
31:36That's the way you want to go out.
31:3718 seconds to go here.
31:38Here comes Kevin Walsh charging forward again.
31:45Crowds feeling it.
31:46They want to see it.
31:47Down the middle, don't rush him.
31:51There's the final bell.
31:52So Doherty survives all eight,
31:54but Kevin Walsh dominates this one from start to finish.
31:58A complete performance from King Kevin Walsh.
32:00And unless we completely misread this one,
32:04he is going to take home that vacant
32:05and win the lightweight title.
32:07Will be the second crown.
32:08He'll be a two division champion,
32:09which is very rare in this sport, in all sports.
32:12I hope he knows when he wins his belt
32:15that we believe he will.
32:16You can see right here.
32:18You see, Kevin, he picked up a pace the last second.
32:22But, you know, thank you.
32:24I thought you said it a lot earlier.
32:26But if he goes home again with his second belt,
32:29there's more people that are going to call him out now.
32:33You know, it's not just the 130 pounders looking at you.
32:36How's the 135 pounders looking at you?
32:38It'll be very interesting to see where he goes
32:42as you go back down to 130.
32:43It's been now three, four fights.
32:45I get the sense that he may be staying here at 35
32:48for quite some time.
32:49And then as you start to get further along,
32:51if he gets at 13 and 0, 14 and 0, even 15 and 0,
32:55then you kind of follow the money, right?
32:57Yeah, you definitely follow the money.
32:59Um, will it be at 130, 135?
33:02He doesn't know.
33:03It depends on what fights he's willing to take
33:05at that either weight.
33:07You know, it's not just the money falls
33:09on who's next to you on that card.
33:11Yeah, some weight classes pay more than others.
33:14Some weight classes don't have that network exposure
33:18that others do.
33:18So that's always a fact that we've heard that in the past
33:20with fighters who've moved up.
33:22I mean, cruiserweights are a good example.
33:24Yeah, a cruiserweight has never really gotten
33:26the notoriety it deserves from a mainstream standpoint.
33:29And that's been a decision to go to 175.
33:31Do I balloon and go to heavyweight?
33:32So all those things are factors.
33:36We're going to get the final word here from Margaret Cressa.
33:39Let's send it back up to our ring announcer
33:42and get the decision.
33:52Ladies and gentlemen, after eight tough rounds of boxing,
33:56we go to the judges scorecards.
34:00Judge Robert Peralino, Judge Eddie Scuntio,
34:04Judge Martha Tremblay all scored the vote 80-71
34:09for your winner by unanimous decision
34:11and new New England Lightweight Champion,
34:15King Kevin Walsh!