Undercard to feature McCullough

Dean Juipe

Friday, Jan. 11, 2002 | 10:31 a.m.

Since Wayne McCullough last stepped into a boxing ring, 26 months have passed.

During that same period of time, or since October of 1999, Alvin Brown has fought 12 times.

Yet when the two featherweights square off as part of Saturday's undercard at the Cox Pavilion, it's McCullough who's intent on pushing the action and wearing his opponent down.

"I may not have fought in a couple of years but I train hard all the time," McCullough, a Las Vegas resident, said Thursday. "I've seen that Brown tries to fight at his pace, but his pace is like my pace when I'm just warming up.

"I don't think he can last with me for 10 rounds."

While scheduled for 10, McCullough would like to end it sooner.

"I don't want to be struggling round after round," he said. "If I hit a guy hard, I want to take him out.

"I want to have about four fights this year to tune up for a bigger fight by the end of the year, and I don't want them all to go 10 rounds.

"If you can't knock out an 'average' opponent, what chance do you have of knocking out a world champion when you get to fight one?"

McCullough, 31, is a former World Boxing Council champion at 118 pounds who is 23-3 with 14 knockouts. Yet due to injury, health and managerial problems, he has not fought since losing a decision to Erik Morales more than two years ago.

Brown, 32, is 17-4 with six KOs and has fought almost exclusively in the Midwest. Fellow journeyman Lee Cargle shows up on his ring resume three times, with Brown having won each of those meetings.

In his most recent outing, Brown was stopped by Emmanuel Lucero in three rounds April 20 in Atlantic City.

"I'd like to be a world champion again," McCullough said. "I haven't been real active but I've learned how to be patient.

"If I can get three or four fights and get the rust off, I can be at the top of my game."