McCullough doesn’t mind being underdog vs. Hamed

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Oct. 8, 1998 | 11:19 a.m.

Wayne McCullough has lost only one professional fight and is regarded as a national treasure in his native Ireland.

Yet the longtime Las Vegas resident has to look long and hard to find anyone outside his close-knit circle who feels he's going to win his next bout, set for Oct. 31 in Atlantic City against Prince Naseem Hamed.

"Even the press back home thinks I'll get knocked out," McCullough said Wednesday before training at the Nevada Partners gym. "I'm getting used to it by now."

Among the skeptics: Las Vegas sports books, which generally have McCullough up as a plus 375 underdog. Hamed is a minus 550 favorite for the 12-round featherweight bout that will be televised by HBO.

"I know Hamed thinks he's going to blow me out because he said so," McCullough said. "When we were in New York (to formally announce the fight) he said 'I'm going to punish you for two rounds and knock you out in four.' So at least he's going to let me go four rounds."

A sly smile accompanied the remark as McCullough reflected not only on Hamed's audacity but the near-unanimous public sentiment against him. At 28 years old he's cast in an unusual role for what is clearly the biggest fight of his career.

"This is the big one," he said. "This is my shot to superstardom. Hamed is so popular in Great Britain it's like he's Michael Jordan. Beating him would change a lot of things."

And he feels he will do it.

"I'm not going to lie down for anybody," McCullough said. "I'm strong and I'm confident. I've fought punchers before and I've never been knocked down. I've got the chin to fight him and I'll beat him for sure."

Hamed, 24, is thought to be a rising star with a 30-0 record that includes 28 knockouts. HBO is paying the unorthodox southpaw $12 million for six fights.

McCullough is 22-1 with 14 KOs and is a former WBC bantamweight champion. His fight with Hamed will be at 126 pounds, which has required McCullough to move up a division from the 122 he had been fighting at the last couple of years.

"I think it helps me because I'm physically bigger," McCullough said. "Hamed is short and I don't think he's a muscular guy either. The only thing he has is a big punch and that's because he jumps in the air to throw it.

"If you give him a lot of room, he'll jump in and connect. I'd be playing his game if I went straight to him."

McCullough's forte is constant movement and aggression. The "Pocket Rocket" is as tenacious as any fighter in the world and he knows his best bet is to try to outwork the flamboyant -- and perhaps overconfident -- half-Yemini, half-British showman.

"He's already tried to get inside my mind and I know he'll keep on trying once I get to New York," McCullough said. "But he didn't say anything directly to me last time. I even sensed that he has a slight fear of me, while I have no fear at all of him."

Should he win, McCullough said he may drop back to 122 pounds and target a fight with WBC champ Eric Morales or WBA champ Enrique Sanchez. Yet he says he's comfortable at 126 and content with the work he has been getting in the gym, although he has backed away from sparring with junior welterweight David Sample.

"David's just too big for me," McCullough said. "He's too tall."

And Hamed, he said, is too obnoxious.

"I don't like his antics and I don't believe in them," McCullough said. "There isn't anything I like about him. He's a complete jerk, he really is, and he's built up his record with handpicked opponents.

"It'll be a pleasure to beat him."