McCullough title fight in doubt

BOXING: Wayne McCullough's search for a world title fight in February has not been as straightforward as his ascent back to the summit of professional boxing.

Following the Irishman's fourth-round destruction of Nikolai Eremeev in Belfast last month, promoter Frank Warren declared that McCullough deserved a tilt at WBO super bantamweight titleholder, Joan Guzman.

It was, said Warren, the obvious choice for a very simple reason: he holds both McCullough and Guzman's promotional contracts. An alternative was WBO featherweight champion, Glasgow's Scott Harrison, who is also in Warren's stable.

Those plans now appear to be unravelling, although Warren's company Sports Network yesterday said it was still working on a February title fight in Belfast's Oddyssey Arena.

"It is still either Harrison or Guzman, with Guzman preferred," said a Sports Network official. "We are still talking to them. It is still very much on."

However, the undefeated Dominican Republic fighter, who scored a third-round knock-out against Argentina's Fabio Oliva to win the vacant super bantamweight title in Cardiff last August, is taking some convincing that a fight against as formidable an opponent as McCullough in Belfast is the sensible thing to do.

Having won the belt just over three months ago, Guzman's financial sense is telling him that he need not jeopardise the title so soon in an arena that would be nothing less than hostile.

According to Guzman's manager Rafael Guerrero, his fighter wants to defend his untarnished record at home before facing fellow countryman and former titleholder Agapito Sanchez.

Guerrero has not discounted the possibility of a McCullough match-up for his man, but has clearly stated that it would be later rather than sooner and not in Belfast or anywhere else in Britain.

The preferred location for Guzman would be the United States, where both men would have support - McCullough fought from the US throughout his professional career.

"We would never fight the Irishman in England or Belfast, the site would be too adverse," Guerrero told the Irish-Boxing website. "The ideal scenario for Guzman-McCullough is in the United States. Joan's first title defence will be in his native homeland, the Dominican Republic."

The expectation is that money talks, with Guzman's stance understood to be the opening shot of what will be a tough series of negotiations with Warren over the prize fund.

That may suit McCullough, who would welcome another fight before making a world title challenge. After all, the former WBO bantamweight champion has had only 10 rounds of boxing since October 1999.

Meanwhile, British heavyweight hope and Olympic gold medal winner Audley Harrison may fight in Belfast after this weekend's American debut.

Harrison's promoter Jess Harding will not rule out his fighter fighting on a bill at the Ulster Hall along with Belfast flyweight world champion Damaen Kelly.

Harrison will fight America's Shawn Robinson on Saturday in his eighth professional bout on the undercard of the Micky Ward-Arturo Gatti rematch at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall.

The BBC will broadcast the fight on Sunday Grandstand on November 24th.