Columnist Dean Juipe: McCullough upset over sparring partner’s KO

Dean Juipe

Thursday, April 29, 1999 | 11:32 a.m.

Dean Juipe's boxing notebook appears Thursday. His sports column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at 259-4084 or juipe@ lasvegassun.com

Informal as such a thing may be, sparring partners have certain guidelines they're supposed to follow.

Their primary requirements are to be on time; to offer some but not too much resistance in the ring; and to accept their role as underling with a minimum of complaint.

Rudy Martinez seems to have failed his sparring partner's test, according to Wayne McCullough.

"I didn't ask for him but America Presents sent him to me," McCullough said this week, reflecting on last week's events that forced him to withdraw from his May 8 main event with WBC super bantamweight champ Erik Morales at the Las Vegas Hilton.

"He wasn't exactly right for me, except he was sort of tall like Morales is," McCullough said of having his promotional firm send Martinez to Las Vegas. "So the first day we spar there's a problem. He can't take the pressure I'm giving and things got serious.

"I should have stopped and told him to get out of the ring, but I didn't. Then he hit me in the back."

That hit, near McCullough's spleen, forced him to pull out of the fight with Morales. It also cost him a $375,000 payday.

"I believe what (Martinez) did was deliberate," McCullough said. "After he did it, I said to him 'Are you trying to knock me out of the Morales fight?' He didn't say anything, but he didn't say he was sorry either."

McCullough, a Las Vegas resident who was eagerly awaiting his first major fight here, is still bitter toward Martinez and is just now getting over the mental anguish of missing out on a high-profile fight.

"I was sick about it for a whole week," he said. "I was depressed, really depressed.

"When you train hard, the reward is you get a fight at the end. But here I was, never in better shape and really sharp, and now I don't get to fight.

"In 20 years of boxing I'd never pulled out of a fight."

The question arises as to whether a McCullough vs. Morales fight will be rescheduled for later in the year, assuming, of course, Morales handles McCullough's replacement -- Juan Carlos Ramirez -- May 8.

"We can't control what Morales does, but it's our impression the fight will be rescheduled," said Dan Goossen of America Presents. "It's a fight both Morales and McCullough wanted, so we think it'll still happen."

McCullough, a former world champion, said it was in the contract that the fight would be "postponed and not called off" in the event one of the participants was injured in training.

"It's an attractive fight," McCullough said. "I was promised another crack at the belt, so I'm hoping he beats Ramirez easy and we can fight this summer."

/bf * OUT OF TOWN: Two Las Vegas-based fighters were in action over the weekend and a third had his fight called off.

In Washington, D.C., on the Sharmba Mitchell vs. Reggie Green undercard Saturday, junior middleweight Ross Thompson of Las Vegas defeated Antonio Reese by fifth-round TKO. Thompson is now 23-3 with 16 knockouts.

In Tulsa last Thursday, Las Vegas heavyweight Cliff Couser failed to handle journeyman Wesley Martin and lost an eight-round decision. Couser falls to 17-4; Martin is 9-15-6.

And in Albuquerque, lightweight David Sample had his scheduled eight-round fight with Julian Romero called off. They were pencilled in as the walk-out fight Saturday following the Johnny Tapia main event, but, instead, had their fight scrapped at the last minute. Sample is 26-5-1.

* QUICK HITS: Veteran welterweight Roger Mayweather of Las Vegas underwent further tests Wednesday, as mandated by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, to be licensed for a May 8 fight in Reno with Francisco Mendez. "I'd hate to see us one day regretting that we licensed him," said NSAC member Dr. James Nave, who requested Mayweather, 37, undergo a complete physical and some neurological testing. ... Goyo Vargas, training in his native Mexico for his May 22 fight at Mandalay Bay with Oscar De La Hoya, interrupted his camp routine long enough to get married. He's also expecting to become a father soon. ... The Palace Station will host a Nevada vs. England amateur card Sunday at 5 p.m. Nevada Partners is sponsoring the event.

Top Rank has added a Butterbean Esch vs. Peter McNeeley fight to its June 26 card at Mandalay Bay that will headline Tapia vs. Paulie Ayala. The four-round heavyweight bout will attract some attention, as Esch is 42-1-1 against incredibly inferior opposition, while McNeeley is 45-4 and best known for a quick knockout loss at the hands of Mike Tyson. So, who wins? "I don't really know," Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler said, "but at least this will be Bean's first fight where (promoter) Bob Arum can go to the press conference and introduce not only him but the man he's fighting. That alone makes this fight unique. Personally, I think Bean wins."