McCullough plans for the future
One thing that Wayne McCullough could never be accused of is shirking a challenge.
Since emerging from the streets of Belfast to become one of the most recognisable boxers on the world stage, the ‘Pocket Rocket’ has experienced enough brutal bouts and health scares over the years to satisfy the most hardened of fight fans.
Having just turned 35, it is to McCullough’s credit that he is still targeting the big names as he nears the end of his career.
Realistically, his clash against super-bantamweight champion Oscar Larios at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas tonight could be his last shot at a world title.
However that has not stopped McCullough from looking ahead to beyond the clash - which he predicts he will win inside the seventh round – to a possible meeting with another Mexican, Marco Antonio Barrera.
Barrera himself defends his WBC super-featherweight belt against Robbie Peden tomorrow, a day after McCullough fights on the undercard of the clash between undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins and Jermain Taylor.
“Ideally, if Barrera can beat Robbie Peden, I would like to face him next, possibly at the end of this year,” McCullough said.
“I have fought everyone else, like Erik Morales and Naseem Hamed, so it would complete a nice set for me.
“If everything goes to plan I would like to carry on for another two years from after the fight against Larios.”
McCullough has had several lengthy lay-offs during his career.
The British Boxing Board of Control took away his licence after an MRI scan found a cyst on his brain in 2000, and he did not fight for 18 months after a bloody defeat to Scott Harrison in March 2003 left him in hospital for nearly three days.
McCullough has battled back from these setbacks, which would have ended many a boxer’s career, but now he knows that time is fast running out to win another world title to add to the WBC bantamweight belt he held in the mid-1990s.
When the time does come for McCullough to hang up his gloves, he will stay involved in the sport he loves.
“When I finish I would like to keep learning things, but also pass on the things I have had to learn to other younger boxers,” added McCullough, who is fighting for the WBC super-bantamweight title for the fourth time, after losing to Daniel Zaragoza, Morales and Larios over the years.
“I help to train some guys at the moment so I know I can do it. I have fought some top, top fighters, and have had so many hard fights. You also learn so much when you are trained by people like Eddie Futch and Freddie Roach.”
McCullough has never been stopped in a professional career that has seen him lose just five of his 27 fights.
The clash with Larios is a rematch after the Mexican claimed a unanimous points decision in a bout back in February, and the Irishman has prepared for another 12-round epic with intensive sparring sessions.
He now feels he has the sharpness to shock 28-year-old Larios, who has clocked up 16 consecutive wins.
“Before the last fight I was sparring for five or six rounds but this time I have been doing 10, 11 and 12 rounds,” added McCullough.
“It has been important to do that because in the last fight I got tired in the middle rounds. I have done over 100 rounds of sparring and a lot of running, so I feel great.”
