Callum Walsh maintained his unbeaten record and top contender status with a unanimous decision victory over Tyler Denny.

Denny, a former European champion, is a tough veteran and proved a test for the Irish middleweight at Dublin’s 3Arena.

Walsh prevailed on points, winning 98-91 twice and 96-90.

The bout didn’t progress without its pitfalls as Denny gave him hard rounds.

The first round suddenly went south for Walsh. Awkwardly positioned in front of Denny, he found himself bending low. Denny attacked and Walsh took a shot before slipping to a knee. The referee ruled that a knockdown.

Walsh found the perfect riposte in the second round. As Denny came after him, Walsh launched a lovely arching left cross to the point of the Englishman’s chin, dropping him heavily to the canvas.

Denny, brave as ever, rose and fought on. But Walsh popped up from beneath an attack to land a fine right hook and he finished the round slugging Denny into the ropes.

The Briton shook off the effects of that round and advanced. By the end of the fourth round, Walsh was backing up, letting his southpaw opponent come on but picking out accurate punches to catch Denny.

Walsh maintained his control, moving, hitting and letting Denny work to try to pin him down.

The Briton kept scrapping forward and managed to land solidly in the sixth round.

Denny trudged on swinging wildly, but Walsh manoeuvred well. The Irishman caught Denny to the head with a left-right combination. Denny felt those shots but remained doggedly determined. He cleaved away with uppercuts in close.

The referee took a point off Walsh for holding, before evening up it by taking a point off Denny for hitting behind the head.

Walsh exploded forward with a savage sequence of punches to the head, leaving Denny stranded, standing still on the end of them.

But Walsh emerged from a clash with a cut over his left eye. It bled badly at once. Denny was leaning into him in scrappy collisions and Walsh looked frustrated after picking an additional nick on his cheek.

In the 10th round Walsh landed a great lead right uppercut. Denny got after him with hooks, catching the Irishman with his southpaw left and right.

Another hard left from Walsh though snagged Denny. He couldn’t put the Englishman down a second time but made sure he finished the fight in the ascendancy.

‘I think he broke my orbital bone’

Walsh told Sky Sports: “It was a lot harder than I thought. In the second round we clashed heads. I think he broke my orbital bone. It was crunching the whole time.

“It was very tough. I’m very critical of myself. I should have been a lot better. I wish I could have been better.

“He’s tough, awkward and tricky, but we’ll go again.”

Watch Aaron McKenna and Etinosa Oliha fight for the IBF world middleweight title in Dublin on Saturday, live on Sky Sports. Get Sky Sports or stream boxing with no contract.

Joe Ward staved off disaster, beating Artjom Kasparian on a unanimous decision after 10 ferocious rounds at the 3Arena in Dublin.

Ward was a true amateur boxing sensation. At 17, all the way back in 2011, he became Ireland’s youngest ever senior European gold medallist.

Though he became an Olympian, misfortune dogged his amateur career, and his pro start was even worse. He dislocated his knee and lost his professional debut.

This fight at the 3Arena in Dublin was his first since 2024 and his ticket back to the big-time

Ward did begin like he’d never been away. He peppered Kasparian with sharp southpaw punching, popping shots into the body and the head. The Manchester-based hitter even picked up a nick by his right eye.

Kasparian stayed in front of his opponent though and in the third round consecutive right hooks to the jaw tested out Ward’s chin and the visitor would then test the home hero to his limit.

Kasparian refused to take a backwards step. Ward’s arms began to look tired and he leaned on in a clinch.

Kasparian’s solution was to keep on throwing and keep hitting out with heavy shots.

The visitor got himself onto the front foot at the start of the fourth round, landing a double jab and snagging Ward as he stepped in.

Ward rapidly tired, punching with just his arms, his feet rooted to the spot, his head available to be hit. That is not the place to be against a big puncher like Kasparian.

Kasparian kept up a strong assault through the middle rounds of the fight. He was, at times, pummelling Ward and it looked like the Irishman was on the brink of disaster.

But, as well as talent, Ward has heart. He pulled it back, and brought in strong backhands to repel Kasparian in the seventh round.

Ward pounced on the opportunity, getting a second wind. He bounced a one-two off Kasparian’s head in the eighth round and started to dictate the action.

Under pressure Kasparian almost fell through the ropes and the crowd wildly cheered for Ward.

In the ninth round, Ward screwed his right in and slammed his left down again. Kasparian, though, hacked at him with left hooks.

Ward popped in a clean, accurate left cross and Kasparian staggered back a step. He harried Kasparian with a sustained combination before the round was up.

Kasparian banged in a one-two but Ward, marked under his right eye, managed to trade with gusto. Kasparian tried to reel away, but Ward kept on throwing, catching him.

Fiercely determined Kasparian slugged back, but Ward answered in kind and raised both arms in the air at the final bell.

Stevie McKenna, with older brother Aaron starring in the main event, got a memorable evening for his family off to a sensational start.

He stormed out to meet Owen O’Neill, loomed over his opponent, and slung out heavy punches. O’Neill hopped backwards, hoping to ride out the storm. But McKenna did not relent. He stayed on his prey, whacking him with a massive left hook and continuing to strafe him with wide-arm punches.

O’Neill was left with little option but to tuck up beneath the onslaught. That though was just an invitation for trouble. A one-two from McKenna lanced down and a right cross sent O’Neill flying off his feet, crashing down on the canvas. He had to be stopped there and then in the first round.

Slick Scottish middleweight prospect Sam Hickey scored a second consecutive victory with a monstrous one-punch finish.

Brad Axe was a competitive opponent, digging in and firing back when Hickey clipped him.

In the third round Hickey stepped in and short right to the side of the head dropped Axe to a knee. The bell though rang to save him.

But Axe kept himself in the fight and caught Hickey in return. Regularly though Hickey finished rounds strongly, driving Axe into the ropes only for the bell to call him off.

Hickey though finished matters at the start of the seven round, Axe bounced in and a booming right greeted him, spinning him round as he flopped down to the canvas. The towel immediately came in as Axe suffered a heavy stoppage.

Romania’s Daniel Buciuc managed to get through six rounds with Louis Greene, though was in severe trouble in the closing seconds of the bout.

After a quiet first round, Greene closed down Buciuc’s space, hammering his body with hooks. He brought hard, chopping shots through the middle jolting the Romanian.

Buciuc soon was trying to move off but he couldn’t keep himself clear. Greene took him to the ropes and Buciuc had to endure salvoes of punchers, hefty uppercuts jolting him.

He attempted to tie up Greene but that left him open to the Briton’s overarm right.

Buciuc was hanging on as Greene shook him up in the final half-minute of the contest. With his legs loosening, Buciuc still kept himself upright and got through to the final bell, Greene winning 59-55.

Connor Coyle took a unanimous points decision win after a bruising 10 rounds with the USA’s Mark Beuke. The man from Derry put himself in the ascendancy in the early going of the bout, teeing up some solid right hands that blasted straight into Coyle.

But the American took his power and a cut opened by Coyle’s right eye to complicate his evening’s efforts.

Beuke stood his ground and kept Coyle honest with heavy hooks that he managed to land with either hand. But his successes came as single blows. Coyle worked better combinations and made sure he finished their exchanges with accurate punching.

Coyle finished the bout bleeding from the nose, but reeling off straight punches to push Beuke back, winning 98-92, 98-93 and 97-93.

Patrick O’Connor, a top American cruiserweight prospect with Irish roots, made short work of Spain’s Juan Manuel Moriel.

Measured with his jab, O’Connor quickly took control. He lashed a right over and began to work the body as he ramped up his attack. The American finished a blazing combination of hooks to Moriel’s trunk with a left hook to the head.

With O’Connor about to move through the gears, the bout was stopped after the first round, Moriel citing a shoulder injury as he stayed on his stool.

The American remains unbeaten in four pro fights, all of those wins coming inside the distance.

Watch Aaron McKenna and Etinosa Oliha fight for the IBF world middleweight title in Dublin on Saturday, live on Sky Sports. Get Sky Sports or stream boxing with no contract.