Wayne McCullough-Pocket Rocket

[BoztheMadman]

Lets hear it for the toughest man ever to grace the bantam divisions! Wayne McCullough embodied the typical Irish/Celtic warrior spirit and toughness and machismo and is remembered for entertaining fights. He even managed to win a world title at bantamweight, which he held for a while. After becoming a super bantamweight, his career would not be as successful but he was still in some entertaining, close and important fights, losing narrowly on points to Daniel Zaragoza, going 12 against Naseem Hamed and also giving Erik Morales a good fight. Unfortunately, after a few brawls too many, his reflexes became less sharp and his chin also started to experience the effect of many hard fights and beatings.

 

Wayne McCullough was born 7 July 1970 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 1992, he won the Olympic silver medal at bantamweight, representing Ireland. He had also represented the country at the 1988 Olympics, as light flyweight, but lost in the second round on points. In 1990 he won the flyweight Commonwealth title. He moved to Las Vegas in February 1993 to begin his professional career. He racked up 11 wins and in 1994 lifted the NABF title by TKO7 against then unbeaten Javier Medina. He defended it against Victor Rabanales, former world champion, on points. His aggressive style endeared him to American fightfans. He also defeated Jerome Coffee, the former-Jeff Fenech world title challenger, by retirement in 5. Another notable win was over Fabrice Benichou, former European featherweight champion who got stopped in his only title fight by Paul Hodkinson. On 30 July 1995, he faced off against the Japanese WBC bantam champion Yasueji Yakushiji, in a title fight in Japan. Winning there never was easy for a foreign fighter, but Wayne came off with the win and the title by way of split decision and Yakushiji retired for a while after that. His first defense took place at home in Belfast, Kings Hall, on 2 December same year. He faced the 26-0 and dangerous Dane Johnny Bredahl, who would become a two-time world champion. McCullough was very impressive and stopped Bredahl in the 8th by TKO after dominating pretty much the entire fight. Bredahl was only given one round by one referee. In his next defense however, he again had to struggle to beat Jose Luis Bueno, an experienced Mexican and the man who ended Sung Kil Moon's career and championship reign. This time the fight was held in Dublin, on 30 March 1996 and again Pocket Rocket prevailed by SD.

 

He then vacated the title, feeling he can no longer make the bantamweight limit comfortably and opted to fight at super bantamweight. In July of '96 he had a fight at the featherweight limit against one Julio Cesar Cardona and won by UD10. He then challenged the WBC super bantamweight champion, legendary technician Daniel Zaragoza, on 11 January '97. The fight was even and tough and went the distance and in the end, champion got the verdict by split decision. It upset a fan of McCullough so much that he jumped into the ring while Larry Merchant was interviewing Zaragoza and yelled "He was robbed!" But he didn't get to finish his sentence for he got punched by an angered Merchant. :laugh: Pocket Rocket then took a year off from boxing and returned next year, as a featherweight. First he beat two minor fighters before getting a big fight against Naseem Hamed on 31 October in Atlantic City. Hamed was then considered one of the p4p best fighters on the planet and was knocking everybody out. He promised to knock McCullough out in 3 rounds, but of course this didn't happen and McCullough easily went the distance, losing on points. Though the decision was not close, McCullough became the first man in Hamed's world title reign to go the distance with him and only the third overall. He then opted to go back to 122 for the fight against another superstar: Erik "El Terrible" Morales. Fight was held 22 October 1999 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit and Wayne sure didn't embarrass himself against a p4p star, but again his quest to capture a title at another weight class was unsuccessful as he dropped a decision to Morales.

 

After this, he was faced with health problems in 2000 after a routine scan found a cyst in the space behind his skull and his brain. Most, if not everyone else, would have given up and forgot all about boxing, but not Wayne. He sought a second opinion from various neurosurgeons and found out that the cyst had most likely been present from his birth and that it had nothing to do with his boxing career. He then began a lengthy battle with the British Boxing Board of Control to have his licence reinstated. In the meantime, the Nevada Athletic Commission granted him a permission to fight in US and he returned to the ring in 2002. He again returned to featherweight and scored 3 knockout wins, before signing to fight the WBO champion, Scott Harrison, in Harrison's homeland Scotland, on 22 March 2003. McCullough didn't look like his old self and received a bad beating, but again managed to last till the final bell. It is thought that this fight ended his prime. He again took a year off before returning in September of 2004 to score his last victory by stopping Mike Juarez in round 2 with a four punch combination. He again returned to super bantamweight to fight Oscar "Chololo" Larios, who now held the WBC title. On 10 February 2005, Larios retained the title with a unanimous decision, despite the fact that many in the audience felt McCullough had done enough to win or at least earn a draw. They therefore had a rematch on 16 July and this time, though he had success in the middle rounds, he was worn down by the younger Larios and after the 10th round the fight was stopped on advice of the ring doctor. McCullough protested it, but it didn't help. It was his first loss by stoppage.

 

He had one more fight but by then he had become a spent force and on 20 June 2008, he quit after 6 rounds of punishment against Juan Ruiz, in a fight for the NABF featherweight title. He was now almost 38 and retired from the game, leaving a record of 27 wins (18 by ko) and 7 losses. He now works as The Ring's correspondent for Las Vegas. Between 1993 and 1998, he was trained by legend Eddie Futch while his manager has been Cheryl McCullough, his own wife. He also works as a trainer now and has trained among others Alex Arthur and Librado Andrade. In 2005 he released his autobiography "Pocket Rocket: Don't Quit". He danced with the best and even if he wasn't the best, he personified the tough and rugged boxing warrior who is there to bring a good fight and never let his fans down.

Edited June 4, 2016 by BoztheMadman

[trail]

Re: Wayne McCullough-Pocket Rocket

 

You could not get that fucker off of his feet.

[BoztheMadman]

Re: Wayne McCullough-Pocket Rocket

 

You could not get that fucker off of his feet.

 

Hehe, nope. He was unnaturally tough.

[Javier Ortega Nieto]

Re: Wayne McCullough-Pocket Rocket

 

McCullough great boxer, I had the opportunity to see him live several of his fights. I fight with the best and lost with them. He never has been knocked out and his capacity for endurance gave great opportunities.

[dvonjunior]

Re: Wayne McCullough-Pocket Rocket

 

great artice thanks. One of my favourite fighters wayne. hard as nails