Former WBC bantamweight champion Wayne McCullough is set to step into the ring this month for his first professional bout after a 26-month absence. Talented Dubliner Bernard Dunne is scheduled to make his professional debut on the same bill, pencilled in for the Californian capital of Sacramento, probably on December 19th.
McCullough, from west Belfast but now resident in Las Vegas, last fought in Detroit in October 1999 against Erik Morales, his third professional career defeat. It was one of McCullough's classic fights, but ended in a points decision going against him.
The 30-year-old was scheduled to fight in Belfast at the end of last year with a view to seeking a world title fight earlier this year but the match was controversially cancelled when what was thought to be a cyst was discovered on McCullough's brain following a routine pre-fight scan.
Medical opinion was subsequently divided over the issue and the controlling body for professional boxing in the UK, the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) eventually refused McCullough a licence to box under their auspices.
The 1992 Olympic silver medallist then sought further expert opinion in the US and, following a battery of medical tests, doctors concluded that the condition had been with McCullough for some years and was not due to blows to the head in the ring.
They further informed the fighter that to continue boxing would not exacerbate the condition.
But the BBBC have refused to accept the medical findings, and McCullough and his wife-manager Cheryl have left the dispute in the hands of their lawyers.
So McCullough is forced to fight in the US and will find himself in Sacramento later this month. His likely opponent is American featherweight Alvin Brown, who has a record of 17 wins and four defeats.
Assuming McCullogh can shake off his ring rust and win the bout he will be seeking at least one more contest before looking for a world title fight next March.
"There is no point in talking to the BBBC anymore," says Cheryl McCullough. "Because we don't get anywhere when we do so, from now we will pursue it legally.
"It is not only our doctors who are saying that Wayne's health is perfect and that is important.
"Peter Richards was the first to say that Wayne is healthy and fine and that he is alright to continue his professional career. He is the BBBC doctor. So it is not only the American doctors who are saying it is okay for Wayne to fight. If there was any risk he would not get in the ring."
In a reflection of the respect in which McCullough is held in boxing circles, he is still ranked number four behind champion Willie Jorrin by the World Boxing Council (WBC). He was also known as having one of the best "chins" in the sport.
But the former World Champion has always kept himself in good shape and in recent weeks has begun regular sparring.
"It looks like Alvin Brown," says Cheryl McCullough. "I don't want to get him a guy who just falls down after a round.
"We need a guy who will get rid of Wayne's ring rust, who will go a few rounds before Wayne takes him out and this guy seems to be right."
"He'll then have another fight after January and maybe one more depending on how he feels. But March, that's what we're aiming for, for a title fight."
McCullough's relationship with former manager Mat Tinley, also Bernard Dunne's promoter, is again flourishing.
