February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The “Clones Colossus” from County Monaghan lived up to his fearsome nickname from the first bell in the scheduled 12-rounder, using his 6-foot-6 frame and a 40-pound weight advantage to wear down the veteran Tomlinson, who entered the ring having lost six of his last eight fights.
A one-time Pennsylvania prospect, Tomlinson survived the first round at the Roseland Ballroom only to be introduced to the canvas by a huge right hand two minutes into the second stanza. He beat the count and was saved by the bell but was floored again by a right hook after one minute of the third round. Yet again, the game veteran arose on jelly legs.
McBride, however, had smelled blood and plowed in for the kill. He forced his man on the ropes with a lashing left hook, then unleashed a barrage of shots that left his hapless foe entangled in the lower strands and unable to beat referee Charlie Dwyer’s 10 count.
Tomlinson, who hails from Reading, Pa., saw his ledger drop to 23-11-1 (win, loss, draw).
Now fighting out of Dorchester, Mass., McBride summed up the victory, which upped his record to 28-4-1 (23 KOs), as “a step to bigger and better things.”
Handler Goody Petronelli said McBride’s initial bodywork had laid the groundwork for the KO.
“Kevin’s body punching was the key. He put pressure on the guy, and when he had him hurt, he didn’t go crazy,” noted the famed trainer.
Once regarded as a future threat to heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, McBride has now won six of his last seven fights after a spate of defeats derailed his career in the late ’90s.
He was 19-0-1 in his first 20 matches in the paid ranks before suffering a setback with knockout losses to Lou Monaco and Axel Shultz in 1997.
Another defeat, by unheralded Englishman Michael Murray, in 1998 all but sounded McBride’s death knell.
But since relocating to the United States, the giant Irishman from the legendary Barry McGuigan’s Clones hometown has enjoyed a new lease on life.
He has been mentioned as a possible opponent for WBA titlist John Ruiz.
BELFAST HOMECOMING
Seven years removed from his last ring appearance in his hometown, Wayne McCullough takes on Russian featherweight Nikolai Eremeev in a scheduled 10-rounder at the Maysfield Sport Center in Belfast this Saturday.
The non-title bout is the second for the “Pocket Rocket” under promoter Frank Warren, who is trying to position him for another crack at a world title.
A former world Boxing Council bantamweight champion, McCullough (25-3, 16 KOs) stopped South African Johannes Maisa in four rounds in London last month in his debut for Warren.
The 32-year-old’s last fight in Belfast was in 1995, when he successfully defended the WBC crown against current holder Johnny Bredahl.
Should he overcome Eremeev, whose professional record is 18-5-2, McCullough may be matched against either WBO super bantamweight champ Joan Guzman or Scotsman Scott Harrison, the recently crowned WBO featherweight titlist, early next year.
Harrison is McCullough’s stablemate under the Frank Warren Promotions.
Ironically, it was McCullough’s last planned Belfast return two years ago that led to the fighter’s 20-month battle with the British Boxing Board of Control.
This was after a routine BBBC scan before an October 2000 bout against Hungarian Sandor Kocvak revealed a cyst in McCullough’s head.
The BBC enforced a British-wide ban on the then Las Vegas-based fighter, which they refused to lift even after exhaustive tests in the United States cleared McCullough to fight.
The British finally relented last June.