BOXING: In their first head-to-head press conference before the March 22nd WBO featherweight world title fight in Glasgow, challenger Wayne McCullough and holder Scott Harrison turned up the heat with some prickly exchanges.
The younger Harrison, who admitted to being a fan of 32-year-old McCullough when the Irishman was progressing through the bantamweight ranks, accused McCullough of being an unnatural featherweight and said he would struggle to survive in the heavier division.
"McCullough is coming up to nine stone but I'm coming down," said Harrison. "I will be too strong for him."
McCullough has fought just three times in three years, although he argued he has been using the same gym-fight tactics Sugar Ray Leonard used when he made his comeback.
"I've had six fights in the gym so I'm not as rusty as people might think," said McCullough. "I'm doing the same as Sugar Ray. My opponents wear headguards and eight ounce gloves while I don't wear a headguard and use 16 ounce gloves. All the guys I fight are undefeated and include super-featherweights. My trainer (Kenny Croom) thinks I'm mad but it works for me."
McCullough, who has never been out of shape, even during the two years he was suspended from boxing because of a failed brain scan, took just two days off after his last fight in Belfast where he defeated Russian Nikolai Eremeev in four impressive rounds.
"Scott's a good fighter but I'm confident," said McCullough. "Two years ago my career was over and now I'm fighting for a world title. He's the champion and deserves to have the fight in his home town. Of course the crowd will help him but I expect a lot of Irish fans will be there too."
Frank Warren, who is promoting both boxers, said he believed the fight has the potential to be a classic. Alluding to the series of fights involving Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank and Steve Collins, Warren said: "It's every bit as big a fight as the great middleweight and super middleweight of the '90s. My only worry is getting enough seats into the venue."
The Glasgow venue has yet to be confirmed but is likely to be either the 5,000-seat Braehead Arena, where Harrison won his title last October, or the 8,000-capacity Kelvin Hall.
McCullough has returned to Las Vegas and the next few weeks will be spent sparring with super-featherweight Kevin Kelley before returning to the UK three weeks before the fight.
In Dublin yesterday Jim Rock expected to face his opponent Iranian-born Takaloo (real name Mehrdud Takalobigashi) across a table for the first time. The two will fight for the vacant WBU light-middleweight championship at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast on February 1st. However, when Takaloo failed to turn up Rock labelled the former WBU light-middleweight champion "a coward".
But Takaloo argued he was prevented from boarding the plane from London because he didn't have the proper identification. The Margate-based fighter has been living in England for more than 20 years but still has not received a British Passport.
When it was established Takaloo could not fly, a telephone link-up was established with Rock and both men unloaded their verbal assaults.
Rock said: "You never had any intention of turning up. You're a coward but you'll have to face me on the night and I'll be walking out with the title."
Takaloo's response was just as adamant: "I'm going over to smash up Jim Rock. This title belongs to me and I see this as a stepping stone to bigger things. Rock's not in my class."
