McCullough meets his match

With the lanky Mexican landing shots almost at will in the tenth stanza, ringside doctor Margaret Goodman, tacitly prompted by McCullough trainer Freddie Roach, stepped in at the end of the round to halt the contest.
McCullough (27-6, 18 KOs) was never off his feet in the bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, but trailed so badly on the cards at the time that only a knockout could have saved him. Judge Tom Kaczmarek had Larios (56-3, 36 KOs) winning all ten heats completed in the scheduled 12-round, while Guido Cavalleri and Dalby Shirley awarded the Ulsterman only the third round.
His forehead red and swollen, the aging “Pocket Rocket” was bitterly disappointed as his last hope for a world title dissipated. But he initially accepted defeat as bravely as he has always fought.
“The doctor made the right decision,” the 35-year-old admitted. “I felt a little bit sluggish. I slowed down in the fourth and fifth rounds. I was able to come back a little, but still did not have it.”
McCullough, his skills evidently eroded by Father Time, was, however, more defiant the next day, questioning the doctor’s decision and apparently ruling out retirement.
“Wow! What a fight,” he wrote on his personal web site. “Tough fight for both of us. Larios admitted afterwards that he threw everything he had to try to keep me off him.
“I know I got hit with some good shots — but that’s me. I hit him some great shots, too, and he was cut over both eyes. Why the doctor stopped me in my corner I will never know. I was honestly fine. I begged her for another round but she wouldn’t give it to me. I can still say that no fighter has ever stopped me or had me down in my career to date. I`ll be back.”
It may be a while, though, before the former WBC bantamweight champ is seen in the ring again. Outlanded 208 to 77 over the last four rounds (according to CompuBox statistics), McCullough was reportedly placed on indefinite medical suspension and sent to Valley Hospital for a CAT scan after the bout.
Larios, meanwhile, left the ring with cuts over both eyes. A slicing punch in the first round drew blood over his left before an inadvertent head butt gashed his right eye in the third.
Cutman Miguel Diaz managed to control the bleeding, allowing the 28-year-old champion to fend off his pesky challenger with some accurate punching.
Larios turned the momentum irreversibly in his favor in the sixth round with several shots that rocked McCullough. The first was a big left hook followed moments later by a right hand and a combination of punches.
In his first bid for Larios’ crown in California last February, McCullough put up a spirited effort but lost via unanimous points.
This latest defeat came in his fourth bid to capture the 122-pound world title. Prior to last February’s setback, the Shankill Road product was a gallant loser against Mexican legends Daniel Zaragoza in 1997 and Erik Morales in 1999.
McCullough also twice came up short in his quest for the WBO featherweight diadem, dropping decisions to Naseem Hamed in 1998 and Scott Harrison two years ago.
His only winning effort came ten years ago when he went to Nagoya, Japan, and outpointed Yasuei Yakushiji to lift the WBC bantamweight belt in his 17th pro fight. He relinquished the crown 18 months later after two successful defenses to challenge Zaragoza for the WBC’s 122-pound trinket.

MAGEE EDGED
Brian Magee’s split points loss to Ukrainian Vitali Tsypko (17-0) in a 12-round battle for the hitherto vacant European super middleweight crown in Nurnberg, Germany, last Saturday completed a dismal weekend for Belfast area prizefighters.
Magee, whose record fell to 23-2 (16 KOs), was bidding for his first championship since losing the IBO world title to England’s Robin Reid in June last year.