Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005 | 10:21 a.m.
Jeff Haney covers boxing for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at (702) 259-4041 or [email protected].
Nearly nine years after he won his last title fight, longtime Las Vegas resident Wayne McCullough will try to become a two-time world champion tonight when he meets Oscar "Chololo" Larios for the WBC super bantamweight belt.
Fox Sports Net (Cox cable channel 50) will televise from the Palace Indian Gaming Center in Lemoore, Calif., beginning at 5 p.m.
Also on the card, U.S. Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward fights for the second time as a professional in a six-round super middleweight bout against unbeaten Kenny Kost.
McCullough, who trains at his home gym in Summerlin and at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, has compiled a record of 27-4 with 18 knockouts since turning pro in 1993 -- but those four losses have come in his past four title fights.
McCullough, who has never been knocked down in the ring, lost decisions to Daniel Zaragoza in 1997, to Naseem Hamed in 1998, to Erik Morales in 1999 and to Scott Harrison in 2003.
At age 34, McCullough could be running out of opportunities to capture another major world title -- although he pointed out that thanks to advanced techniques in training and nutrition, boxers such as Bernard Hopkins and James Toney are fighting at a championship level well into their late 30s.
McCullough owned the WBC bantamweight championship belt in 1995 and 1996.
McCullough says he feels rejuvenated since joining forces with trainer Freddie Roach and promoter Dan Goossen last year, and that the fight against Harrison -- which he lost soundly on all three judges' scorecards -- was an aberration.
"I'm not making any excuses, but that wasn't the real me in there that night," said McCullough, a native of Belfast, Northern Ireland, who has lived in Las Vegas for more than 12 years. "Everyone wrote me off after that fight. The media said I was done. Most of the press in Britain and Ireland was saying I should retire. I can't wait to prove them wrong."
In Larios (54-3-1, 35 knockouts), McCullough faces a man considered by many in boxing to be the best 122-pounder in the world, a fighter on a 15-bout winning streak who's coming off an impressive unanimous-decision victory against Nedal Hussein last November at the MGM Grand.
Oddsmakers have installed Larios as nearly a 4-1 favorite against McCullough.
McCullough, known as "The Pocket Rocket," figures to rely on his celebrated granite chin -- and, perhaps, the possibility that Larios is looking past him. It was announced this week that Larios has already made arrangements to fight WBO junior featherweight champ Joan "Little Tyson" Guzman in a title bout April 9 in El Paso, Texas, contingent upon a victory against McCullough.
Should McCullough upend Larios -- who he calls a tough fighter -- he has some plans of his own.
"I would love to fight in front of a lot of Irish fans in Dublin or Belfast," McCullough said. "I would also love a big fight in Las Vegas. ... Once I get the championship, I'll be able to call the shots."
In tonight's other featured bout, Ward (1-0, 1 KO), the only U.S. boxer to win gold in Athens, tries to stay unbeaten against Kost (7-0, 4 KOs).
"I know he's talking on the Internet about how he's going to beat me, about how he's going to use my name to make a bigger name for himself," said Ward, of Oakland, Calif. "I know he's a threat to me, but I'm looking forward to getting the job done ... and whipping him."
Castillo-Diaz
Jose Luis Castillo and Julio Diaz were scheduled to meet reporters today at the Border Grill to promote their March 5 lightweight championship bout at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Showtime will televise as Castillo (51-6-1, 45 KOs) puts his WBC belt on the line against Diaz (30-2, 22 KOs), who recently relinquished his IBF belt to face Castillo rather than settle for a much smaller fight against that organization's mandatory challenger.
"This is a mega-bout, the kind I have always desired," Diaz said. "I could not pass up the chance."
The Ring magazine lightweight belt, recognizing the best overall fighter in the division, is also at stake.
In another featured bout on the card, IBF super middleweight champ Jeff "Left Hook" Lacy (18-0, 14 KOs) squares off against Rubin Williams (26-1, 15 KOs).
Bernard back
HBO Sports is scheduled to replay last year's Bernard Hopkins-Oscar De La Hoya bout on Friday, Feb. 18 (11:15 p.m.) and Saturday, Feb. 19 (5:30 p.m.) on HBO2, as a preview of the Feb. 19 middleweight championship fight between Hopkins and Howard Eastman from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Hopkins (45-2-1, 32 KOs), who knocked out De La Hoya last September at the MGM Grand, will make an unprecedented 20th defense of his middleweight title against Eastman (40-1, 35 KOs). HBO will televise at 6:45 PST.
Hopkins is about a 6-1 favorite against Eastman.
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