Kurt Walker: Irish Olympian to turn professional with Conlan Boxing
- Published
Walker narrowly missed out on a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics
Kurt Walker says it is his ambition to fight for a world title at Windsor Park after turning professional.
The Lisburn fighter has joined the pro ranks with management company Conlan Boxing, directed by brothers Jamie and Michael Conlan.
Walker was one win short of a medal at the Tokyo Olympics after stunning world champion Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov.
Canal ABC's Walker, 26, will debut at featherweight, with an opponent yet to be revealed.
He boxed to a memorable 4-1 split decision victory over Mirzakhalilov in Tokyo to reach the quarter-finals but was narrowly beaten by America's Duke Ragan.
"Long term, I want to fight for a title at Windsor Park," declared Walker.
"I'm very confident. I've done everything that's ever been asked of me. I've always fought at a high-level."
Since taking Ireland's number one seed in the 56kg division from now manager Michael Conlan back in 2016, Walker has become a serial medal winner and is thrilled to be linking up with his predecessor at professional level.
"I am delighted to have turned pro with Conlan Boxing, its always been a dream of mine to become a professional world champion," he said.
"I want to thank everyone at Canal ABC in Lisburn for all their help throughout my career, also to everyone in the High Performance unit.
"I've had some amazing years on the Irish teams but now I'm very excited to make the move into the pro game."
Walker earned bronze in the 2017 Europeans and silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games before winning bantamweight gold at the 2018 EU Championships and European Games in 2019.
"This is a statement of our intent going forward," said Michael Conlan, co-director of Conlan Boxing.
"Kurt Walker is a world class operator and having proved it time after time in the amateur game its only natural for him now to take the big step into the professional game and do it there.
"Having shared many rounds with Kurt I've seen and felt first hand how good he is and how good he can be."