FIGHT ARCHIVE
Round by round he cut the champs jab off with slick
head and body movements and for the first half of
the fight the champion hardly laid a glove on the
Irishman.
“The fight plan was the use my jab, take
his jab away, use different angles, bang
the body and stay low. Yakushiji could
punch but I think we shocked him with
the game plan”.
Every round of this fight was almost a carbon copy
of the previous ones, with McCullough dictating the
pace of the fight with his snappy jab, followed by
thundering body shots from all angles. He hurt the
champion in rounds nine and eleven with hooks to
the body which would’ve dropped many other
“I took his best weapon away and he
didn't know what to do. Eddie was right!”
Bantamweights at the time but the Japanese
Warrior cheered on by his home crowd withstood
the Irishman’s onslaught and made it to the final
bell.
On 30th July 1995, less than two and a half years
since his pro debut, Wayne “Pocket Rocket”
McCullough won the WBC Bantamweight
Championship. All three judges had the Irishman
beating the home favourite convincingly. The man
who dreamed of fighting in Olympic Games for
Ireland, and winning a World Title had fulfilled his
lifelong ambition. The people of Ireland, North and
South welcomed home our newest hero and he
holds a special place in every boxing fan’s heart.
McCullough defended his title twice before vacating
the belt and moving up in weight to challenge WBC
Super Bantamweight champion Daniel Zaragoza
but lost via a split decision in the WBC "Fight of the
Year".
The Belfast boxer took the microphone and
revealed this might be his swansong.
He said:
"I think this could be my last fight and I
want to thank you all for coming. I am
disappointed with the way things went
but I just felt I could not go on."
On 17 August 2005 McCullough was honored by
the WBC to become their first ever WBC World
Ambassador for Peace and Goodwill in Sports.
He currently trains fighters both in boxing and MMA
and is setting up his own charity - IHOW.
He is also a well respected analyst and
commentator in America.
On 20 June 2008, McCullough fought Juan Ruiz in
the Cayman Islands, his first fight in three years.
He lost in six rounds, retiring on his stool. Despite
being ahead on two of three judges' scorecards
after six rounds, he told his corner he could not go
on due to an injury he had sustained in training.
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MONTHLY