February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Declan, the elder of the two County Mayo heavyweights, survived a first-round knock down against James Steele to pick up his third straight win since turning pro at age 29 last January.
Kid brother John’s debut in the paid ranks, however, lasted a mere 49 seconds as he suffered a frightening knockout against stocky Puerto Rican Jose Luis Gomez.
The 24-year-old John and his corner vehemently argued that it was from a head butt, while Gomez, a cousin and former minder of Puerto Rican great Felix “Tito” Trinidad, claimed that a left jab and right uppercut had done the damage.
The two-punch combination was not obvious from press row at the Atlantic Oceana restaurant in Brighton Beach, giving credence to the younger Timlin’s account.
After a quick start, during which Timlin was the aggressor, the two fighters stepped in at the same time with right hands. Gomez appeared to beat his man to the punch and Timlin crumpled to the canvas, face down, out cold.
The jam-packed two-tiered restaurant, whose large vociferous Irish contingent in the capacity had greeted Timlin’s arrival in the ring with a massive ovation, was hushed.
It was several nervous minutes before Timlin was revived and helped to his feet. Loud applause accompanied him as he tottered to his corner on unsteady feet.
“He didn’t hit me with a punch; I got knocked out by a head butt,” Timlin later said, pointing to his left temple. “I’ll try to get it overturned. I’ll have to look at the tape.”
Timlin, with just five amateur fights and several bare-knuckle contests in Ireland on his resume, said he’d been primed for his first pro bout. “I felt good. He wasn’t strong. He was slow [and] I’m disgusted,” he spat.
Trainer Don Saxby backed his fighter’s head butt claim.
“I saw the butt,” he insisted. “We’re looking to get [Gomez] again.”
Predictably, Gomez, alias “The Bodyguard” from his stint as Trindad’s protector, took full credit for his first-ever win in three professional fights.
“Left jab and right uppercut,” he retorted when asked what punch he’d knocked Timlin out with. “I was timing him. I knew he was coming in hungry [since] it was his first pro fight.”
He also credited his weight for giving him the edge in power over Timlin, listed at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds on the fight schedule.
“At the weigh-in, I was 262 pounds, but I came in at 270 tonight,” said Gomez, who claimed an 18-2 amateur record in Puerto Rico.
STEELY EFFORT
Declan Timlin, meanwhile, outhustled fellow Queens denizen James Steele over four scrappy rounds to maintain his unbeaten record as a pro.
Steele, a 6-5 fighter who’d lost his only other pro contest, dropped the 6-1 Declan with the only punch he landed in the opening stanza, a straight right that caught the Irishman on the bell.
But Declan Timlin, who said losing wasn’t an option after watching his brother lose, cleared his head during the minute-long break and proceeded to dominate the rest of the technically poor fight with his mauling attack.
The former Tough Man contestant got the nod on scores of 38-35, 38-36 and 37-35 but admitted that it was ugly.
“He was [difficult] and holding; I’m not pleased with the outcome,” he said, blaming his poor showing on having accepted the match on just four weeks’ notice.
On the knockdown, Declan confessed: “He caught me with a great shot and once I got up, he was back to holding.”
McCULLOUGH READY
Wayne McCullough was champing at the bit at his Las Vegas home last Sunday as he declared all systems go for his ring return at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif., tomorrow (Thursday) night.
The “Pocket Rocket,” inactive since his failed bid for Scott Harrison’s World Boxing Organization featherweight title in Glasgow 18 months ago, meets journeyman Mike Juarez over 10 rounds.
The contest is on the undercard of the James Toney-Rydell Booker WBC Continental Americas match to be televised by Fox Sports Net’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period.” By press time, McCullough was unsure whether his bout would also be broadcast live or shown next week on tape delay.
“Everything is good,” the Ulsterman (26-4, 17 KOs) said after a two-week camp in Los Angeles with new trainer Freddie Roach. “I’m in great shape and looking forward to it.
“I got some great training in California with Freddie and was in the gym with fighters like [James] Toney, Vernon Forest and Manny Pacquiao,” he added, naming some other world-class fighters that work out at Roach’s Wild Card Gym.
The 34-year-old McCullough hopes to get another world title campaign rolling by disposing of the nondescript Juarez, a soft touch who hasn’t won a fight since December 2000.