February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
McCullough fought champion Oscar Larios to a standstill in an often brutal, seesaw match at the Palace Indian Gaming Center. But in the end it wasn’t enough in the eyes of the three judges, who scored the 12-round war easily for the Mexican.
Kozio Abe tallied 116-111, while Marco Rosales and Marty Samon gave it to Larios by the wide margins of 118-110 and 118-109, respectively. The latter card translated into a near shutout, while Rosales awarded the “Pocket Rocket” just two rounds.
Fox Sports Network fight commentator Barry Tompkins scored it a draw 104-104, his broadcast partner Sean O’Grady had McCullough ahead 88-85 after nine rounds; MaxBoxing.Com’s Doug Fischer gave it to McCullough six rounds to five with one even, while this writer had the challenger winning six rounds with two rounds even.
Even Larios dismissed the scoring.
“I think the fight was close, but he didn’t really hurt me at any time,” he said through an interpreter.
There were a few others, though, that agreed with the official scoring, including veteran matchmaker Ron Katz, who saw the now 55-3-1 (35 KOs) Larios winning convincingly 9-3.
“What I gotta do?” the distraught McCullough wondered after his record fell to 27-5 (18 KOs) following his third unsuccessful bid for the WBC title.
He’d broken down in tears and had to be propped up by two corner men in the ring when the result was read, the verdict causing more damage to the hardened Ulsterman than anything Larios threw.
Back at his Las Vegas home two days later, McCullough, still peeved, said his handlers, manager-wife Cheryl and promoter Dan Goossen, would begin talks with the Larios’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, and the WBC this week for a rematch.
This, even though Larios reportedly signed a deal for a unification match with WBO super bantamweight champion Joan Guzman in El Paso on April 9, two days before he fought McCullough.
“I think I deserve it,” McCullough said of the rematch. “Ninety percent of the people I spoke to thought I won. If I’d knocked him out they’d have called it a draw.”
There were no knockdowns in the match despite both men landing flush shots throughout.
Showing no ill effects from the beating suffered against WBO featherweight titlist Scott Harrison two years, the 34-year-old McCullough defied Father Time and set a punishing pace against the champion, who’s 28.
He had Larios backing up for most of the early six rounds as he fought the only way he knows: busy and with short punches that often found their mark. McCullough was surprisingly, and frequently, on target with a lead right.
To his credit, Larios remained active even in retreat. He displayed a good left jab and landed his share of right hands, most of them when he managed to create some space between him and McCullough.
The challenger had a big third round, charging off the stool to press Larios around the ring, mixing punches well to the head and body and catching Larios with zinging hooks.
Through the fifth and sixth rounds, the sight of the taller champion taking clean punches and being forced back by his shorter foe was enough to suggest that an upset was unfolding.
Yet he’d rally back in the seventh heat, stopping the granite-chinned McCullough in his tracks with a thudding right and suddenly swinging the momentum around in the ninth round after giving away the eighth.
Decisioned by the more illustrious Mexican duo of Daniel Zaragoza and Erik Morales in his previous bids for the WBC 122-pound crown, McCullough appeared to be running on fumes down the stretch.
Larios was now the aggressor and landing big punches. McCullough was fighting back, but his punches were less than worrisome.
Amazingly, McCullough found new energy in the final round and finished the stronger man, while Larios faded, probably exhausted by his strong surge in the middle rounds.
“I thought I did good in the early rounds,” McCullough said. “I gave away the middle rounds — don’t ask me why — but I came back strong at the end.”
“He’s got heart,” Larios complimented McCullough.
With revenge on his mind, the former world bantamweight champion ruled out retirement and said he was looking forward to working with trainer Freddie Roach again.
“Freddie and I are great together and he really helped me during the fight,” he said. “I can’t wait to go back to L.A. and work with him again. I’m ready to learn new things to use in my future fights.”