Sport

McCullough eyes second title after unanimous win

Wayne McCullough believes he is on his way to winning a second world title when he faces WBC super-bantamweight champion Erik…

Wed Sept 01 1999 - 01:00

Wayne McCullough believes he is on his way to winning a second world title when he faces WBC super-bantamweight champion Erik Morales on October 22nd at the Joe Louis Stadium in Detroit.

Former world bantamweight champion McCullough unanimously out-pointed American Len Martinez over 10 rounds at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas in the early hours of yesterday morning, taking a verdict of 99-90, 9990 and 99-89.

McCullough said: "Having been out of the ring for so long, I really needed those rounds and I'm looking forward to fighting Morales.

"I felt very good in there and I preferred this kind of fight rather than one where I went in and got a quick stoppage.

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"I would have liked to knock him out but I won every round anyway. I hurt him several times, but he wouldn't go down - he had a chin like granite."

Before a sell-out crowd of 1,400 McCullough dominated the 10-round fight with his non-stop aggression, slamming home shots to body and head. His furious assaults always had Martinez struggling to find a rhythm and make any counter assaults.

The Las Vegas-based Belfast man did incur the wrath of the referee when he was deducted a point for low blows in the sixth round.

McCullough went through most of the contest with blood coming from the top of his head after a clash of heads in the opening round.

However, he was always a class above Martinez, who showed great courage in absorbing the relentless assault from McCullough, a 1992 Olympic silver medallist.

McCullough clearly weakened Martinez, from Nebraska, with some potent body shots and it was an ideal workout following 10 months on the sidelines partly due to a back injury.

McCullough now looks forward to his clash with Morales who is rated as the best in the super-bantamweight division. The fight takes place on the supporting bill to Prince Naseem Hamed's WBO featherweight title defence against Mexican Cesar Soto, holder of the WBC version.

The Ulsterman hopes that victory will lead to a rematch with Hamed. Last year Hamed outpointed McCullough in Atlantic City with a below par performance.