Wayne McCullough

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Wayne McCullough
Statistics
Real name Wayne Pocket Rocket McCullough
Nickname(s) "The Pocket Rocket"
Rated at Bantamweight, Featherweight
Height 170 cm / 5'7"
Reach 168 cm / 66"
Born

(1970-07-07) 7 July 1970
Belfast, Northern Ireland

Resides - Las Vegas, Nevada
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 34
Wins 27
Wins by KO 18
Losses 7
Draws 0
No contests 0
Wayne McCullough
Medal record
Men's Boxing
Olympic Games
Competitor for  Ireland
Silver 1992 Barcelona Bantamweight
Commonwealth Games
Competitor for  Northern Ireland
Gold 1990 Auckland Flyweight

Wayne Pocket Rocket McCullough (born Wayne William McCullough, 7 July 1970 in Belfast) is a former professional boxer from Northern Ireland. During his professional career, which began in 1993, he held the WBC title in the bantamweight category.[1] In May 2004, McCullough changed his name by deed poll to Wayne Pocket Rocket McCullough.[2]

He was known for his dogged, relentless attacking style and has never been knocked down or stopped by a fighter in a professional bout.[3][4] He was always known for his cast-iron chin, having taken two of the biggest punchers known in boxing, Naseem Hamed and Erik Morales the full distance of 12 rounds. During his bout with Mexican boxing champion Erik Morales in 1999, Larry Merchant commented, "If you look in the dictionary, under tough Irishman, you'll find a picture of Wayne McCullough".

Amateur career

As an amateur living in the staunchly loyalist Shankill Road area of Belfast, McCullough was selected by the island-wide Irish Amateur Boxing Association to participate in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea, and was asked to carry the Irish flag because he was the youngest member of the team at 18 years old. He went on to win a silver medal for Ireland at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Representing Northern Ireland at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, he won a gold medal and carried the Northern Ireland flag in the closing ceremony.[5]

The medal ceremony for his Commonwealth title was marked by an unusual incident. A technical problem with the public address system made it impossible to play the recording of the song "Danny Boy", used instead of an anthem for medallists from Northern Ireland. The New Zealand official in charge of the sound, Bob Gibson, promptly took the microphone and sang the song unaccompanied.[6]

McCullough also won Bronze for Ireland at the World Cup in Bombay, India in 1990.

Amateur highlights

Amateur record 319–11 Over 100 KO's

  • 1988 represented Ireland as a Light Flyweight at Seoul Olympic Games. Results were:
    • First Round bye
    • Defeated Fred Mutuweta (Uganda) points
    • Lost to Scotty Olson (Canada) points
  • 1990 Gold medallist at Flyweight at Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand. Results were:
    • Defeated B. Mwangata (Tanzania) points
    • Defeated M. Maina (Kenya) points
    • Defeated Tshabangu (Zimbabwe) points
  • 1990 3rd place as a Flyweight at World Cup in Bombay, India. Results were:
    • Defeated M. Pingle (India) points
    • Defeated D.K. Park (Korea) points
    • Lost to Serafim Todorov (Bulgaria) points
    • Defeated Fred Mutuweta (Uganda) points

Had to fight for Bronze medal as there was only one awarded

  • 1991 competed as a Bantamweight at World Championships in Sydney, Australia. Results were:
    • Defeated Felipe Costa (Portugal) TKO 2
    • Defeated Joseph Zabakly (Australia) points
    • Lost to Enrique Carrion (Cuba) points
  • 1992 won the Silver medal representing Ireland as a Bantamweight at the Barcelona Olympic Games. Results were:

Professional career

In 1993 McCullough moved to Las Vegas to train under Eddie Futch, who agreed to train him after seeing him at the Olympics. McCullough always fought in neutral colours and did not have national anthems played at his fights; his supporters in Northern Ireland included Protestants and Catholics. Within a year of turning pro, he had won the North American Boxing Federation title. On 30 July 1995, less than 2½ years since his pro debut, he won the WBC championship by beating the champion Yasuei Yakushiji in Nagoya, Japan to become Ireland's first ever WBC world champion. He was the first (and to date the only) fighter from Ireland or the UK to travel to Japan and win a belt.

McCullough defended his title twice before vacating the belt and moving up in weight to challenge WBC super bantamweight champion Daniel Zaragoza, but lost via a split decision in the WBC "Fight of the Year". After this fight, his wife Cheryl and Stuart Campbell began to manage his career when his original manager, Mat Tinley, became a boxing promoter.

McCullough unsuccessfully challenged champions Naseem Hamed in 1998, and Erik Morales in 1999. In each of those exciting "Fight of the Year" contenders, he broke his opponent's lengthy run of KO wins while taking them the distance. Hamed had knocked out 18 opponents straight before McCullough, and was 30-0 at the time with 28 knockouts to his credit. Morales had knocked out 9 of his previous 9 opponents and was 34-0 at the time, also with 28 knockouts. Morales stated that McCullough gave him one of the top three fights of his career and almost quit on his stool after the 9th round (according to Ring magazine).

In October 2000, McCullough was to return to his native Belfast for a homecoming fight. Two days before the fight was scheduled to take place, he was told that he had a cyst on his brain, he couldn't fight again and that one more blow to the head could kill him. McCullough flew back to Las Vegas and was advised by the Nevada Commission to visit the neurosurgery department at UCLA for a more thorough investigation. Within a few weeks the doctor at UCLA, Neil Martin, called to say he had consulted with some of the top neurosurgeons in the USA and they had come to the conclusion that the cyst was not on his brain, but in a space between the brain and the skull – called the arachnoid mater – and that he saw no reason for him to give up his boxing career.

Nevertheless, the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) continued to deny him a license. He was relicensed in Nevada and fought again in January 2002. After a very public battle, the BBBC could no longer deny him a license and later that same year McCullough stepped back into a British ring under the Frank Warren Promotions banner.[7] Thereafter he had mixed success, winning five fights but losing to Scott Harrison and Mexican world champion Óscar Larios on two occasions. The result of his first fight with Larios is widely disputed.[8][9]

On 17 August 2005 McCullough was appointed the first WBC World Ambassador for Peace and Goodwill in Sports.

In September 2005, McCullough became a United States citizen.[10] In November 2005, McCullough released his autobiography, Pocket Rocket: Don't Quit, in the UK and Ireland. He went on a publicity tour to promote the book, which reached Number 2 on the best sellers list.

In 2007, Wayne McCullough joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship organisation as a PR associate, to promote Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

He currently trains fighters both in boxing and MMA and is setting up his own charity - IHOW.

The Martínez challenge

In 2007 McCullough signed to fight Spain's Kiko Martínez who had just defeated Bernard Dunne at the Point Depot, Dublin for the European super bantamweight title. The fight between McCullough and Martínez was due to take place at Belfast's Kings Hall on 1 December 2007.[11]

McCullough had not fought for over two years and the Kings Hall venue was sold out for the fight. It was agreed that the non-title fight would take place at 8 st 12 lb mark. However, on the day before the fight there was uproar during the weigh-in and the fight was cancelled by the BBBC amid chaotic scenes.[12]

McCullough had already contracted to fight at 2 lb over the 8 st 10 lb championship weight and he weighed in at 8 st 9 lb. However, Martínez failed to make the agreed weight and was 1.75 lb over the agreed weight.[12][12]

Martínez was given a couple of hours to shed the excess weight, but did not return to weigh in again and the scales were closed by a BBBC official. A furious McCullough stated "I couldn't believe it. He comes in over the weight and then after being asked to take it off he just sits there and does nothing. I just can't believe what has happened. I was ready to fight and ready to win and he comes in that much over the weight."[12][13]

Retirement?

On 20 June 2008, McCullough fought Juan Ruiz in the Cayman Islands, his first fight in three years. He lost in six rounds, retiring on his stool. Despite being ahead on two of three judges' scorecards after six rounds, he told his corner he could not go on due to an injury he had sustained in training.

The Belfast boxer took the microphone and revealed this might be his swansong. He said: "I think this could be my last fight and I want to thank you all for coming. I am disappointed with the way things went but I just felt I could not go on."

Preceded by
Yasuei Yakushiji		 WBC Bantamweight Champion
4 May 1995 – 11 January 1997 (vacated) 		Succeeded by
Sirimongkol Singwangcha

Professional boxing record

27 Wins (18 knockouts), 7 Losses, 0 Draws[14]
Res. Record Opponent Type Rd Date Location Notes
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 27-7 United States Juan Ruiz retired 6 (10) 2008-6-20 Cayman Islands Royal Watler Cruise Terminal, George Town, Cayman Islands
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 27-6 Mexico Oscar Larios TKO 10 (12) 2005-7-16 United States MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA WBC super bantamweight title
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 27-5 Mexico Oscar Larios UD 12 (12) 2005-2-10 United States Palace Indian Gaming Center, Lemoore, California, USA WBC super bantamweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 27-4 United States Mike Juarez TKO 2 (8) 2004-9-23 United States Pechanga Resort & Casino, Temecula, California, USA
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 26-4 Scotland Scott Harrison UD 12 (12) 2003-3-22 United Kingdom Braehead Arena, Glasgow, Scotland WBO featherweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 26-3 Russia Nikolay Emereev TKO 4 (10) 2002-11-2 Northern Ireland Maysfield Leisure Centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 25-3 South Africa Johannes Maisa TKO 4 (10) 2002-9-14 United Kingdom York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, UK
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 24-3 United States Alvin Brown KO 2 (10) 2002-1-12 United States Cox Pavilion, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 23-3 Mexico Erik Morales UD 12 (12) 1999-10-22 United States Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan, USA WBC super bantamweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 23-2 United States Len Martinez UD 10 (10) 1999-8-30 United States Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 22-2 United Kingdom Naseem Hamed UD 12 (12) 1998-10-31 United States Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA WBO featherweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 22-1 Colombia Juan Polo Perez SD 10 (10) 1998-5-19 United States Memorial Coliseum, Corpus Christi, Texas, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 21-1 Mexico Antonio Oscar Salas UD 10 (10) 1998-4-7 United States Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut, USA
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss 20-1 Mexico Daniel Zaragoza SD 12 (12) 1997-1-11 United States Hynes Convention Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA WBC super bantamweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 20-0 Mexico Julio Cesar Cardona UD 10(10) 1996-7-13 United States Mammoth Events Center, Denver, Colorado, USA.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 19-0 Mexico Jose Luis Bueno SD 12 (12) 1996-3-30 Republic of Ireland Point Depot, Dublin, Ireland Retained WBC bantamweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 18-0 Denmark Johnny Bredahl TKO 8 (12) 1995-12-2 Northern Ireland King's Hall,Belfast, Northern Ireland Retained WBC bantamweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 17-0 Japan Yasuei Yakushiji SD 12 (12) 1995-7-30 Japan Aichi Prefectural Gym, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Won WBC bantamweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 16-0 Mexico Geronimo Cardoz RTD 7 (10) 1995-3-14 United States Pontchartrain Center, Kenner, Louisiana, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 15-0 France Fabrice Benichou PTS 10 (10) 1994-11-12 Republic of Ireland Point Depot, Dublin, Ireland
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 14-0 Mexico Andres Cazares KO 3 (10) 1994-9-15 United States Silver Nugget, North Las Vegas, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 13-0 Mexico Victor Rabanales UD 12 (12) 1994-6-17 United States Taj Mahal Mark G Etess Arena, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA NABF bantamweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 12-0 United Kingdom Mark Hargreaves KO 3 (6) 1994-3-19 United Kingdom Millwall Football Stadium, Millwall, London, UK
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 11-0 Puerto Rico Javier Medina KO 7 (12) 1994-1-18 United States Civic Auditorium, Omaha, Nebraska, USA NABF bantamweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 10-0 United States Jerome Coffee RTD 5 (10) 1993-11-30 United States Civic Center, Pensacola, Florida, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 9-0 United States Andres Gonzalez KO 2 1993-11-9 United States Fargodome, Fargo, North Dakota,USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 8-0 Algeria Boualem Belkif TKO 5 (10) 1993-9-24 Republic of Ireland National Boxing Stadium, Dublin, Ireland
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 7-0 Northern Ireland Conn McMullenn KO 3 (6) 1993-6-18 Northern Ireland Maysfield Leisure Centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 6-0 Puerto Rico Luis Rosario TKO 6(6) 1993-6-1 United States Blue Horizon, Philadelphia,Pennsylvania,USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 5-0 United States Manuel Ramirez TKO 5 (6) 1993-5-4 United States McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, Colorado, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 4-0 Mexico Oscar Lopez KO 5 1993-4-16 United States Cyclorama Building, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 3-0 Mexico Oscar Zamora UD 4 (4) 1993-3-26 United States Country Club, Reseda,California, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 2-0 Mexico Sergio Ramirez KO 3 (4) 1993-3-18 United States Paramount Theatre, New York, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 1-0 Mexico Alfonso Zamora TKO 4 (4) 1993-2-23 United States Country Club, Reseda, California, USA Professional debut

See also

  • List of Irish sportspeople

References

  1. ↑ Sunday Mirror
  2. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8570502.stm
  3. ↑ ESPN
  4. ↑ BBC News
  5. ↑ boxrec.com
  6. ↑ pocketrocketbox.com
  7. ↑ BBC News
  8. ↑ BBC News
  9. ↑ eastsideboxing
  10. ↑ RTE
  11. ↑ Derek Bilton. "WADE INTO WAYNE'S WORLD". Betting Zone. Retrieved 13 January 2008. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 "Wayne blows his top". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 13 January 2008. 
  13. ↑ "McCullough's comeback bout is off". BBC. 30 November 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2008. 
  14. ↑ Wayne McCullough's Professional Boxing Record.

External links

  • 1930 – 2006: up to 51 kg
  • 1930: Jacob Smith (RSA)
  • 1934: Patrick Palmer (ENG)
  • 1938: Johannes Joubert (RSA)
  • 1950: Hugh Riley (SCO)
  • 1954: Dick Currie (SCO)
  • 1958: Jackie Brown (SCO)
  • 1962: Robert Mallon (SCO)
  • 1966: Sulley Shittu (GHA)
  • 1970: Dave Needham (ENG)
  • 1974: Davy Larmour (NIR)
  • 1978: Michael Irungu (KEN)
  • 1982: Michael Mutua (KEN)
  • 1986: John Lyon (ENG)
  • 1990: Wayne McCullough (NIR)
  • 1994: Paul Shepherd (SCO)
  • 1998: Richard Sunee (MRI)
  • 2002: Kennedy Kanyanta (ZAM)
  • 2006: Don Broadhurst (ENG);
  • 2010: Suranjoy Mayengbam (IND);
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