McCullough Hangs Up Gloves

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Irish Voice Sport

McCullough Hangs Up Gloves

June 26, 2008

By Declan O’Kelly

Olympic silver medalist and former World Bantamweight champion Wayne McCullough’s professional boxing career came to an end last Friday when he retired at the end of the sixth round against Juan Ruiz. Despite being ahead on two of the three judges’ card, the Belfast native decided enough was enough and did not reemerge for the seventh stanza.

After the fight, the Pocket Rocket addressed the crowd, saying “I think this is my last fight and I want to thank you all for coming. I’m disappointed with the way things went but I just felt I couldn’t go on.”

McCullough made his professional debut in 1993 and the highlight of his 15-year career came in 1995 when he went to Japan and defeated Yasuei Yakushiji for the WBC bantamweight title. Never the biggest puncher in the world, McCullough possessed one of the strongest chins and biggest hearts in boxing. He fought and went the distance in title fights with

Erik Morales, Naseem Hamed and Scott Harrison. Before the Ruiz fight, McCullough had been out of action for almost three years, but was confident coming into the bout last week. Though his last fight may not have ended as well as he would have liked, the Pocket Rocket rarely disappointed fans and can look back

at his career with tremendous pride. McCullough finished with a record of 27-7 with 18kos.

During his three-year absence, McCullough trained several fighters, among them super middleweight Librado Andrade and middleweight Enrique Rosales. The Pocket Rocket may well decide to remain in the boxing game as a full-time trainer. Having trained with the legendary Eddie Futch and Freddie Roach, McCullough has certainly learned from the best. Add that to his wealth of world title fight experience and McCullough has all the tools to become a top trainer for any boxer.

As reported in the Irish Voice last week, light middleweight James Moore (15-1) has parted ways with trainer

Harry Keitt. There is some speculation that McCullough may replace Keitt as trainer. Moore and his management company, Celtic Gloves Promotions, are expected to make an announcement later this week.

It will be straight to work for Moore, as he is tentatively scheduled to fight in New York on August 7. One can’t but feel for Keitt, who took Moore to 15-0 before the Rosado defeat heralded the end of his tenure with the Wicklow native. And remember, this is not the first time this has happened to Keitt. John Duddy and he were 20-0 together before Clan Duddy decided to replace him with Don Turner. “We remain friends and Harry always had my best interests at heart. However, I felt it was time to move on,” Moore told The Voice late Monday night.

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