Walsh backs Nolan to go on to better things
“It’s all about winning the first fight and now we know there are things to work on,” Walsh said. “If they were blowing people out of the water the first day you’d start to worry. It’s a bit early to be doing that.”
He was reflecting on Nolan’s nervous start to what could prove to be a big tournament for the rangy Wexford southpaw who will benefit from the experience when he meets Andrey Zamkovoy (Russia) on Friday.
“He’s in top class shape. He’s in great condition — he’s never been in as good condition — and it was the stress, fatigue and nervous energy that caused him to slow down in the last round and also when he knew he was five points up he then switched off and tried to just get through the round rather than go out and continue to do what he had been doing.”
He was explaining how the Bray-based Garda took his foot off the pedal in the third round when he felt he had the fight won and allowed Sanchez to get land big shots.
“I was concerned in the last round because sometimes if you are hitting gloves — and he did block most of those shots — they would give some scores and he was only five points ahead. To lose a five-point lead would have been a total disaster but he held on.”
Nolan, himself, was the first to admit he was nervous on the night.
“There are a lot of things I can improve on,” he said. “I made life hard for myself in there, I probably didn’t use my jab enough. I meet the Russian next and he’s very good so I’ll need to up it now. I know if I box to my capabilities I can make life hard for him and do very well against him.
“I was a bit taken aback by the occasion. Coming out there was like walking into a cauldron. I’ve never boxed in front of a crowd like that before. I felt a bit nervous getting in — I couldn’t let my punches go.
“Hopefully come Friday I can throw off the shackles and knowing I have a win under my belt I can improve on my performance.
“The Russian qualified at the world championships in Baku and was beaten by the eventual gold medallist. There is going to be pressure on him here. I’m just going to get in there and concentrate on doing what I’m good at and just getting out of the ring with no regrets.”
Walsh admitted there was a massive challenge ahead of him in Friday’s last 16 bout.
“We’ll work on it during the week,” he said. “Adam knows what it is all about now. He’s sampled it. He knows what he is up against.
“The plan for this fight was to start fast and he did start fast, set a good pace, got three points up and that set the scene for rest of the fight. He was never going to come back from three points.
“Willie McLaughlin lost to Andrey Zamkovoy in the quarter-finals of the world championships in Milan. It was a close fight — Willie gave him a very good fight. There wasn’t a lot in it and the Russian went on to become world silver medallist at those championships.”
Apart from his narrow win over Willie McLaughlin — Nolan also has a decision over the Donegal man — Zamkovoy, lost 2-0 to Fred Evans (Wales) in the final of the Strandja Memorial Tournament (Pazardjik) last year while he lost to Errol Spence (USA) on countback at the Chemistry Cup in Halle this year when Nolan won a bronze medal.
