McCullough eyes August ring return

By Jay Mwamba

Wayne McCullough is back in the gym and mulling another jump in weight after recovering from a back injury that cost him a shot at the world super bantamweight crown last April.

"I’m not in fight shape, but close to it," the former World Boxing Council bantamweight titlist said from his Las Vegas home last week.

McCullough spent three weeks in Belfast last May convalescing from the near disastrous back injury that scuttled a scheduled May 8 crack at Mexican Erik Morales’s WBC 122-pound belt in Las Vegas. The injury was caused by a blow during a sparring session.

"The punch missed my spine by a centimeter," McCullough soberly noted.

Fortunately, there was no lasting damage, and since returning from

Belfast, McCullough has immersed himself in a rigorous training regimen.

"I’ve been doing 15 rounds with the pads [hand boxing], shadow boxing, and will resume sparring this week," he said.

His handlers, the Denver-based promotional outfit America Presents, have him penciled in for an Aug. 28 appearance on the David Reid-Keith Mullings world junior middleweight title undercard, and on Mike Tyson’s come-back show on Oct. 2.

If McCullough has his way, both fights will be in the 126-pound limit featherweight division.

"I haven’t made 122 pounds [super bantamweight] for a long time, and may step up to the featherweights," he remarked. "I feel comfortable at 124 pounds."

The 29-year-old McCullough, who has a 22-2 professional ledger, has fought several times at featherweight — most recently in last fight bout against Naseem Hamed last October.

The Ulsterman lost a 12-round points decision in Atlantic City, in his quest for Hamed’s World Boxing Council Organization championship.

And McCullough dismissed ex-trainer Thel Torrance’s $1 million lawsuit for services allegedly rendered during the fighter’s preparations for the Hamed fight.

"I’m not worried about it," he shrugged, adding that the suit had no

merit.