February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Harrison, the champion, grumbled that McCullough, who was a ringside TV analyst when the Scotsman defeated Julio Pablo Chacon for the title last October, had disrespected him by claiming that the Argentine was an unworthy foe.
Harrison, who’s 18-1-1 then predicted that he would become the first boxer to knockout the granite-chinned Ulsterman, who has never been floored in his ring career.
“He says he’ll knock me out, that he’ll put me to sleep. I think the pressure is getting to him,” McCullough shrugged from his Las Vegas training camp. “He won’t be able to cope when the fight comes.”
By far the most experienced of the two fighters, the 26-3 challenger, a former WBC bantamweight titlist, also advised Harrison’s father and trainer, Peter, to keep his mouth shut for suggesting that he McCullough was scared of the champion.
“I’m so scared that I’m fighting in his backyard?” the “Pocket Rocket” shot back.
McCullough also pooh-poohed Harrison’s assertion that since the Irishman was moving up in weight while he would be going down the scale to make featherweight, the challenger would not be able to withstand his power.
Countered McCullough: “I have stopped my last three opponents and the weight is no issue. I have fought 12 rounds with Naseem Hamed, who was considered a big punching featherweight and he could not stop me.”
Hamed was WBO champion when he scored a points decision over McCullough despite running for most of the fight in Atlantic City four and a half years ago.
When the two featherweights enter the ring in Glasgow, there will be more than the WBO belt at stake.
Promoter Frank Warren, who handles both fighters, has lined up for the winner a major payday later this year against Marco Antonio Barrera, the Mexican superstar regarded as the best featherweight in the world.
The McCullough-Harrison match will be televised live in the United States on the Showtime cable network.
Home sweet home
McCullough’s return to Las Vegas after three months in his Belfast hometown is permanent.
“We got used to the American way of living,” he explained.
The boxer, his wife and manager Cheryl and their 4-year-old daughter, Wynona, attempted a move back to Belfast late last summer after nearly a decade in the United States. However, the lure of Vegas proved too much for the young couple.
McCullough will prepare for the Harrison fight in Vegas until early March, when he’ll move his camp to Belfast. He plans to fly into Glasgow a few days before the match.
The 32-year-old veteran, meanwhile, has joined the list of experts in the fight game with high hopes for young featherweight Bernard Dunne, the 3-0 Dubliner who returns to action in Las Vegas on February 7.
“He’s a good kid and a great fighter, too. I believe that he can be a world champion,” he said.
Many regard Dunne as the best Irish prospect since McCullough himself left the Emerald Isle for Las Vegas with a silver medal from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.