Wayne McCullough's boxing career has once again landed in limbo. The Belfast native, who was to have fought in anger tonight for the first time in 364 days, pulled out of his scheduled tune-up bout against Lupe Rangel in suburban Studio City, leaving promoters scrambling and, more ominously, apparently torpedoing next month's title challenge to WBC super-bantamweight champion Erik Morales in the process.
"I wish I were a psychiatrist," said McCullough's promoter, Mat Tinley, after the fighter declined to make the short flight from his Las Vegas home for tonight's fight against Rangel, an unthreatening opponent.
"This is the fifth time he's done it in six months. We had fights scheduled for Wayne on June 7th, August 23rd, September 23rd, December 13th, and now January 10th, and he's pulled out of all of them. He says he won't fight under the terms of our current contract, but he's already taken three installments of $25,000 each since he signed that contract."
McCullough had signed on with Tinley fresh from his silver medal-winning performance in the Barcelona Games, and the young American television mogul had successfully guided him to a professional career that culminated in his winning the WBC bantamweight title. McCullough relinquished that championship last year to challenge for Daniel Zaragoza's 122 lb belt, but came up on the short end of a split decision in Boston last January 11th, and has not fought since.
While McCullough recuperated from a broken jaw incurred in the Zaragoza fight, he simultaneously began to stew about Tinley's decision to branch out into the promotional business with his new company, America Presents, a circumstance which sometimes found Tinley's interests at crosspurposes with McCullough's. A rapprochement of sorts appeared to have been reached last month. In agreeing to the Rangel tune-up and the challenge to Morales (who had succeeded Zaragoza), Tinley agreed to hand over the managerial reins to Cheryl McCullough, the boxer's wife, while continuing to promote him under a new arrangement.
"The old contract was slavery," said Cheryl McCullough yesterday. "We'd agreed on several parts of a new one, and Mat had agreed to those terms as late as last Monday. Wayne executed his part of the agreement, but when our lawyer sent it to their lawyer, they refused to honor what they'd already agreed to do.
"I know one's word means nothing in boxing, but Mat and Wayne had a friendship," said Cheryl, who is seven months pregnant. "But since Mat started that promotional company, the friendship has disintegrated. It's very sad, really. Wayne wants to fight. He's ready to fight. He's shadowboxing in my living room at this moment."
Tonight's McCullough-Rangel scratch meant Peter McNeeley's heavyweight bout against Larry Menefee has been elevated to main event status. And almost as soon as it became clear McCullough was not going to fight, word swept the boxing world that the Morales fight was off as well - a fact Cheryl McCullough confirmed yesterday.
Where all of this leaves McCullough is less certain. He is 27 years of age and has not fought in a year, which hardly bodes well for his career.
"We know that," said Cheryl. "But Wayne's going to be a dad in March. That's the most important thing to him right now. But boxing is still the number one thing in his life. Wayne is a boxer. That's what he does."
Well, sometimes he does, anyway.
Meanwhile, Roy Jones jnr, who has held world titles at three weights and who is generally regarded as the best fighter, pound for pound, in world boxing is ready to step up to heavyweight and challenge Britain's two-times World Boxing Organisation champion Herbie Hide. Jones' prodigious talent has earned him the IBF middleweight and super-middleweight titles, and the WBC light-heavyweight title.
