McCullough thinks his career is over

The former WBC bantamweight champion Wayne McCullough believes his boxing career is over after a bitter feud with American promoter Mat Tinley.

The Las Vegas-based Ulsterman, who had been hoping to fight WBO featherweight champion Prince Naseem Hamed this year, is ready to return home after being accused of pulling out of his comeback fight in California last night.

"He's trying to destroy my career," the 27-year-old McCullough, who has not boxed for a year, said of Tinley. The Ulsterman claimed he had signed a new promotional contract with Tinley on January 6th and that the American TV executive had not stuck to it.

"I didn't pull out of the fight on Saturday night. I was never notified - I only found out the fight was off when the press rang me. "I'm contracted for another four years, but I'll never fight for Tinley again. At this point, it looks like my career is over. "I could go to court to seek my release, but that could take over two years - and I'll be 32 when my current contract runs out, too late to start all over again. "I've been to hell and back this past year. It's left me sickened and disillusioned. Right now, I feel like packing up and coming home to Belfast," said McCullough.

McCullough and Tinley teamed up after the Belfast man's Olympic silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Games, and he went on to become world bantamweight champion in 1995.

But wife Cheryl - now his manager - said: "The old contract was slavery. We agreed on several parts of a new one. Wayne executed his part of the agreement, but when our lawyer sent it to their lawyer, they refused to honour what they had already agreed to."

McCullough has asked Tinley to release him from their agreement so that he can relaunch his career.

"I asked him to let me go, but he said `No'. I've been training for 10 months and it's very frustrating because I'm desperate to fight. "I was hoping for a fight with Naseem Hamed this year, but now that looks off. I just don't know where I go from here," McCullough said.