Columnist Dean Juipe: McCullough seeks answers about health

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Nov. 2, 2000 | 9:49 a.m.

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

Like anyone with an uncertain medical condition, Wayne McCullough is anxious to have his situation resolved.

Monday at the UCLA medical center, the former World Boxing Council bantamweight champion expects to receive some answers. Is his boxing career over? Does he need surgery? Or can life, including boxing, continue as normal?

Diagnosed with a cyst on his brain after an MRI in Belfast, Ireland, Oct. 12, McCullough has spent the ensuing three weeks in limbo. The longtime Las Vegas resident said Wednesday that he has his doubts about that initial test result, as a second MRI -- taken in Dublin -- was, at worst, inconclusive, and, at best, cleared him of any potential problem.

"It's been really, really, really confusing," he said. "I have a lot of questions that haven't been answered. A person's health is more important than their career, so I have a lot of concerns. If I do have a cyst, what should I do about it? Is this life threatening? Could I die if I merely hit my head on a door or something?

"Right now I don't know any more than I did a couple of weeks ago."

McCullough, 30, had been scheduled to face Hungary's Sandor Kocsak Oct. 21 in his native Ireland, but the fight was abruptly called off after the Oct. 12 MRI was made public by the British Boxing Board of Control.

"I didn't get that Oct. 12 test result until Oct. 18," McCullough said. "I know for a fact you can get the results of an MRI in an hour, so I'm mad about that because I continued sparring."

In all, McCullough, who returned to Las Vegas last Sunday, said he sparred 140 rounds in preparation for his fight with Kocsak.

"I've never felt dizzy or anything," he said. "In fact, I feel as good as ever. But I was told I could have been born with the cyst, so maybe it isn't that big of a thing."

But after being placed on medical suspension by the BBBC, the ramifications could keep McCullough from resuming his fighting career.

"The way it stands right now, no, I'm not retired," he said. "But if the BBBC never passes me, I not only can't fight anywhere in Great Britain or Ireland, I can't even fight anybody from Great Britain."

The Nevada State Athletic Commission will take its cue from UCLA, where McCullough has a late-afternoon appointment. NSAC member Dr. Flip Homansky and NSAC ringside physician Dr. Margaret Goodman have already reviewed McCullough's test data from Ireland, but are awaiting the UCLA results before making a recommendation.

"I think they're as confused as I am," McCullough said of Homansky and Goodman. "They looked at the two MRIs and two CAT scans from 1993 and 1995. I'm taking all that stuff with me to UCLA."

McCullough also has a bone to pick with BBBC director Simon Block, who, he said, was evasive and non-communicative in handling the matter.

"The second (MRI) doctor I saw told me I was fine and that he'd clear me to fight," McCullough said. "I even went back and went through a huge press conference in Belfast, and even stepped on the scales. But Block wouldn't talk to me about it on the phone or agree to meet with my attorney; he's never really told me anything.

"The media spent at least a week trying to track him down and leaving messages, yet he never replied, or he said he didn't have time for it.

"He's going to be here next week (for the Lennox Lewis vs. David Tua fight) and I'd like to speak with him face to face, because on the phone he was acting real ignorant."

McCullough, a former Olympic bronze medalist who has a 23-3 record as a professional, said the prefight press conference in Belfast was troubling.

"It was very hard to do," he said. "I really didn't know what was happening and I broke down in tears. Here I was being told by one doctor that another hit to the head and I could be killed, while another doctor says there's nothing wrong.

"I'm over the worst of it now, but I knew right away it wasn't a big joke.

"It made for a trip I'll never forget."

Boxers from UNLV, Penn State, California, Nevada-Reno and Air Force participated in the event.

Winners representing UNLV and how they fared include: Xenon Mallari, 112 pounds, stopped Air Force's Doug Spear in one round; Joey Song, 125, won a decision over Air Force's Jeb Frederickson; Max Raymond, hvy., stopped Cal's Chris Draper in three rounds; David Wengell, 156, stopped Reno's Matthew Kyle in two rounds; Chris Kennedy, 178, won a decision over Penn State's Tony Hottenstien; Brandon Brunson, 147, won a decision over Cal's Gene Kim; Louis Ohiaeri, super hvy., won a decision over Penn State's Rick Slater; Lyndon Manlapau, 112, stopped Reno's Lawrence Tam, the defending national champion, in two rounds; Jose Gonzales, 139, won a decision over Penn State's Nick Bair; and Scott Manning, 175, stopped Reno's Josh Wenner in one round. UNLV's Lyle Nixon, 139, lost a decision to Cal's Jake Wildberger.

At Wednesday's prefight press conference, Mosley told the Associated Press that Diaz "has a puncher's chance.

"He's a strong warrior who fights until the end. He's very heavy-handed and he comes from a family bred to fight. It will be a tough fight."

Mosley is 35-0 with 32 knockouts and is coming off a decision win over Oscar De La Hoya. If he defeats Diaz, Mosley is tentatively set to fight Arturo Gatti Feb. 24 at a site to be determined.

Diaz is 33-2 but will be fighting for the first time as a welterweight. He hasn't lost since 1996 and has wins this year over James Crayton, Ivan Robinson and Mickey Ward.

His strategy will be to do with Mosley what De La Hoya did not, which is jab more, work inside to the body and apply some early pressure.

"I didn't fly all the way from California to lose," Diaz said. "I'm here to win. If I knew I was going to lose, I would have stayed back home.

"There's going to be a new champion."

Delayed six times by various injuries to both fighters, the Virgil Hill vs. Fabrice Tiozzo WBA cruiserweight title fight is back on for Dec. 9 in Lyon, France. Hill, a Las Vegan, pulled out of a September fight with Tiozzo due to a bad hand and hasn't fought since May of 1999. ... A Vince Phillips vs. Ray Oliveira junior welterweight fight in Ledyard, Conn., is on for Dec. 22. ... In a survey of 542 public relations executives, Mike Tyson was voted the least desirable celebrity in the world to represent, according to the periodical PRWeek. ... Trivia: Junior middleweight Adnan Catic of Germany, who participated in the recent Sydney Olympics, announced he was turning pro and that he was changing his name to Felix Sturm in an effort to sound more Germanic.