Reece Walsh set to walk rising boxing star Vegas Larfield to the ring for Tim Tszyu undercard bout
Reece Walsh and Vegas Larfield played junior footy together and even look like each other. On Sunday Walsh will take time out of Origin camp to lead Larfield to the boxing ring.
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They look like brothers and grew up playing rugby league together, and on Sunday afternoon, Queensland fullback Reece Walsh will walk rising super bantamweight boxer Vegas Larfield to the boxing ring.
The 21-year-old Larfield fights Jhunrille Castino on the Tim Tszyu vs Carlos Ocampo undercard, and Walsh is set to take advantage of a day off from Origin camp to accompany his mate to the ring.
Larfield says the pair first became friends in junior footy for the Nerang Roosters when Walsh taught him how to do a backflip celebration.
“We were in under-6s, and we’d both be scoring tries, but the difference was that he’d be doing backflips after his,” Larfield, told CODE Sports.
“I was jealous of that, so I had to learn how to do them myself.”
Walsh was always fully dedicated to his footy career and was signed by the Broncos at just 16. Meanwhile Larfield – whose dad gave him his distinctive name because “he always had it planned out for me to become a boxer” – started boxing training during rugby league off seasons.
After a few years, he decided to ditch footy boots for boxing gloves for good. He turned professional in August 2020, and his second pro bout was in Las Vegas on the undercard to Terence Crawford’s welterweight world title fight with Kell Brook.
Just three days after his fight this weekend, Larfield hopes to be decked out in Maroon at Suncorp Stadium to watch Walsh’s second game of Origin for Queensland.
“It’s crazy, man,” Larfield says of their twin journeys. “From where we started, to where he is now, it’s incredible. He was always a gun, even when we were kids, and all through high school too.”
Walsh said he was keen to bring some of the Queensland Origin team with him to Sunday’s fight to support Larfield.
“We were two little mischievous boys running around enjoying footy. It’s good to see two little fellas from Nerang living the dream kicking goals,” Walsh said.
“I haven’t been to too many of his fights. He has been all around fighting, but I have been watching him on social media, so it will be good to get down with a few of the Origin boys and support him on Sunday. It’s going to be exciting.
“He has got some good power and he moves well, so I’m sure he will go out there on Sunday and do his thing. He will put on a good show for everyone.
“He was actually a good footy player. Half the time, me and him were fighting each other and running around on the field. He was a nippy little thing, but I’m really happy he has kicked on in boxing.”
HASS HAMDAN’S DOG BITE
Tim Tszyu isn’t the only fighter who’s had a run-in with a dog in the lead-up to this weekend’s fights.
Incredibly, Hass Hamdan – who fights Justin Frost for the Australian super-lightweight title – fell ill after his own canine encounter during a training run near his home in Sydney.
“I like running at night because there’s no one around, so it was about 9pm,” Hamdan told CODE Sports.
“Turns out it wasn’t as empty as I thought…”
The dog ran off after biting Hamdan on the leg, and the 25-year-old never found the owner.
Thinking it was just a slight nip, he finished his run before checking on the cut at home.
“I didn’t think it was that bad at the time, I just thought it had a little go at me,” he said. “I guess that was the adrenaline, because when I pulled my shorts up after the run, it was way worse than I thought.
“I had to have a tetanus shot, and they gave me antibiotics, but I still got quite sick for about two weeks afterwards.
“But, I’m back, and I’m fighting this weekend, and that’s the main thing.”
SCHLEIBS AND OGDEN NEARLY COME TO BLOWS
The fights nearly got underway early when Mark Schleibs and Rocky Ogden needed to be forcibly separated following a fiery encounter at Thursday’s open workouts.
The run-in happened after the pair spent a few minutes hurling abuse at one another as Ogden was hitting pads. It threatened to get out of hand when the 5-0 Ogden stepped out of the ring and they confronted one another face-to-face.
It just about kicked off between Rocky Ogden and Mark Schleibs. #TszyuOcampopic.twitter.com/pJZRSXqtgQ
— Brendan Bradford (@1bbradfo) June 15, 2023
Speaking to CODE Sports moments after their altercation, Ogden accused Schleibs of being “two-faced.”
“When we’re alone, he’s saying we’re all mates, but then when everyone’s around, he talks shit,” he said. “He’s a clown.”
For his part, Schleibs said it’s not personal, claiming he’s just “here to ruffle feathers.”
Outside boxing though, the Melbourne-based Schleibs is fighting a bigger fight to see his eight-year-old son Oscar.
“I’m going through some things and I haven’t seen him or talked to him in eight or nine weeks,” Schleibs told CODE Sports. “It’s hard, man.”
He says personal issues between himself and Oscar’s mother are the cause of his pain, which he plans on taking out on Ogden.
“I don’t wish this upon anyone,” he said. “Having a fight keeps my mind off those things and lets me laser in on Sunday.
“I’m just going to channel all that badness and all that pain and put it on Rocky’s face.
“Someone’s going out on a stretcher, and it’s not going to be me.”
HEATED HEAVYWEIGHT REMATCH
There will be guaranteed fireworks from the first fight of the day on Sunday, with heavyweight Gold Coast rivals Troy Pilcher and Haze Hepi opening proceedings.
Their fight is a rematch of a draw the big boppers had last year.
There has been simmering resentment between them ever since, after Pilcher says Hepi initially called him out while he was recovering from a hand injury.
“He called me out after one of his fights, being a bit disrespectful,” he told CODE Sports.
“I took it a bit personally and it lit a fire.
“I had an injury, and he took an opportunity to get me when I was down. At the end of the day, I took the fight, so not using it as an excuse.
“But there is a bit of heat from the last fight, and I’m sure everyone from the Gold Coast will be coming to it, and everyone from around Australia will be tuning in.”
LIAM TALIVA’A CAN’T GET A FIGHT
Seven opponents either pulled out or turned down a fight with Sydney heavyweight Liam Taliva’a in the past seven days.
They all must have been scared off by the highlights of his four professional bouts so far.
Because although he hasn’t had much experience in the pro ranks, all four of his opponents to date have hit the canvas.
An exasperated Taliva’a could barely keep up with the latest name he thought he was fighting.
“Brother, don’t even talk about it. Seven came through and seven pulled out,” Tavlia’a told CODE Sports on Thursday.
“We’ve landed on someone from New Zealand, Isaac something. But I’m just glad to finally have someone locked in.”
The situation got so bad that Taliva’a’s coach Tony Del Vecchio told No Limit’s matchmakers not to even bother ringing him with new names.
“We said yes to every single one,” he said. “I said to them, ‘Don’t call us again, it doesn’t matter who, we’re saying yes’.”
While no one else seems willing to fight him, Taliva’a has his sights set on the rest of the ranked heavyweights in Australia.
“They’re all on my radar, I want some serious fights to start climbing the ranks,” the former sparring partner of Paul Gallen said. “If I could line them up, I would.”
Originally published as Reece Walsh set to walk rising boxing star Vegas Larfield to the ring for Tim Tszyu undercard bout
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