Wayne McCullough facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Wayne McCullough
Statistics
Nickname(s)	Pocket Rocket
Rated at	Bantamweight Super-bantamweight Featherweight
Height	5 ft 7 in
Reach	66 in
Nationality	Irish British American (after 2005)
Born	(1970-07-07) 7 July 1970 (age 54) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	34
Wins	27
Wins by KO	18
Losses	7
Medal record Men's amateur boxing Olympic Games Representing  Ireland Silver 1992 Barcelona Bantamweight Commonwealth Games Representing  Northern Ireland Gold 1990 Auckland Flyweight

Wayne "Pocket Rocket" McCullough, a tough and skilled boxer.

Wayne "Pocket Rocket" McCullough (born Wayne William McCullough on 7 July 1970) is a famous former professional boxer from Northern Ireland. He competed from 1993 to 2008. He was the WBC bantamweight champion from 1995 to 1997. This made him the first boxer from Northern Ireland to win a WBC championship.

Wayne also fought for world titles six times in the super-bantamweight and featherweight divisions. Before turning professional, he was a very successful amateur boxer. He won a silver medal for Ireland at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He also won a gold medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, representing Northern Ireland.

McCullough was known for his strong, attacking style and his amazing ability to take punches. He fought two of boxing's hardest hitters, Naseem Hamed and Érik Morales. He went the full distance (all rounds) with both of them. During his fight with Morales in 1999, a TV commentator joked, "If you look in the dictionary, under 'Tough Irishman', you'll find a picture of Wayne McCullough." Amazingly, Wayne was never once knocked down in his entire professional career. He even defeated the famous boxer Arturo Gatti when they were both amateurs.

Wayne's Amateur Boxing Journey

Wayne McCullough had a fantastic amateur career. He won 319 fights and only lost 11. Over 100 of his wins came by knockout.

As a young boxer from Belfast, he was chosen to represent Ireland at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea. At just 18 years old, he was the youngest member of the team and was asked to carry the Irish flag. Later, he won a silver medal for Ireland at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Representing Northern Ireland at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, he won a gold medal. He also carried the Northern Ireland flag in the closing ceremony. Something special happened at his medal ceremony. There was a problem with the sound system, so they couldn't play "Danny Boy", which is used instead of an anthem for Northern Ireland medalists. A New Zealand official, Bob Gibson, stepped up and sang the song himself! In 1990, Wayne also won a bronze medal at the World Cup in Mumbai, India. This made him Ireland's only World Cup boxing medalist ever.

1988 Olympic Games: Seoul

Wayne represented Ireland at Light Flyweight.

• He had a bye in the first round.
• He defeated Fred Mutuweta from Uganda on points.
• He lost to Scotty Olson from Canada on points.

1990 Commonwealth Games: Auckland

Wayne represented Northern Ireland at Flyweight and won a gold medal.

• He defeated Benjamin Mwangata from Tanzania on points.
• He defeated Maurice Maina from Kenya on points.
• He defeated Nokuthula Tshabangu from Zimbabwe on points.

1990 World Cup: Mumbai

Wayne represented Ireland at Bantamweight and won a bronze medal.

• He defeated Manoj Pingle from India on points.
• He defeated D.K. Park from South Korea on points.
• He lost to Serafim Todorov from Bulgaria on points.
• He defeated Fred Mutuweta from Uganda on points.

1991 World Championships: Sydney

Wayne represented Ireland at Bantamweight.

• He defeated Felipe Costa from Portugal by TKO in Round 2.
• He defeated Joseph Zabakly from Australia on points.
• He lost to Enrique Carrion from Cuba on points.

1992 Olympic Games: Barcelona

Wayne represented Ireland at Bantamweight and won a silver medal.

• He defeated Fred Mutuweta from Uganda on points.
• He defeated Ahmed Abbood from Iraq on points.
• He defeated Mohammed Sabo from Nigeria on points.
• He defeated Gwang-Sik Li from North Korea on points.
• He lost to Joel Casamayor from Cuba on points.

Wayne's Professional Boxing Career

In 1993, Wayne moved to Las Vegas to train with the famous coach Eddie Futch. Eddie decided to train him after seeing him at the Olympics. Wayne always fought in neutral colors, and no national anthems were played at his fights. This meant his fans in Northern Ireland, both Protestants and Catholics, could all support him. Within a year of becoming a professional, he won the North American Boxing Federation title.

On 30 July 1995, less than two and a half years after his first professional fight, he won the WBC championship. He beat the champion Yasuei Yakushiji in Japan. This made him Ireland's first ever WBC world champion. He was also the first fighter from Ireland or the UK to travel to Japan and win a boxing belt. He defended his title twice. Then, he moved up in weight to challenge WBC super bantamweight champion Daniel Zaragoza. He lost that fight by a very close decision, which was named the WBC "Fight of the Year."

After this fight, his wife Cheryl and Stuart Campbell started managing his career. Wayne then challenged two other champions, Naseem Hamed in 1998 and Erik Morales in 1999. Both of these were exciting "Fight of the Year" contenders. In these fights, Wayne showed how incredibly tough he was. He managed to go the full distance against both Hamed and Morales, even though they were known for knocking out almost all their opponents. Hamed had knocked out 18 opponents in a row before fighting Wayne. Morales had knocked out 9 of his last 9 opponents. Morales even said that Wayne gave him one of the top three toughest fights of his career!

In October 2000, Wayne was supposed to fight in his hometown of Belfast. But just two days before the fight, he was told he had a cyst near his brain. Doctors said he couldn't fight again, and another hit to the head could be very dangerous. Wayne flew back to Las Vegas for more tests. A doctor at UCLA found that the cyst was not on his brain, but in a space between his brain and skull. The doctor said there was no reason for him to stop boxing!

However, the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) still wouldn't give him a license to fight. But he was relicensed in Nevada and fought again in January 2002. After a big public effort, the BBBC finally gave him a license. Later that year, Wayne fought in a British ring again. He had some wins but also lost to Scott Harrison and Óscar Larios twice. Many people believe he should have won his first fight against Larios.

In 2005, Wayne became the first WBC World Ambassador for Peace and Goodwill in Sports. In September 2005, he became a citizen of the United States. In November 2005, Wayne released his autobiography, Pocket Rocket: Don't Quit. The book was very popular and reached number 2 on the best sellers list in the UK and Ireland.

In 2007, Wayne started working with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to help promote Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Today, he trains both boxing and MMA fighters. He is also starting his own charity called IHOW.

McCullough vs. Martínez: A Fight That Didn't Happen

In 2007, Wayne was set to fight Spain's Kiko Martínez. Martínez had just won the European super bantamweight title. Their fight was planned for 1 December 2007, in Belfast.

Wayne hadn't fought in over two years, and the venue was completely sold out! The fight was agreed to be at a certain weight. However, the day before the fight, there was a big problem at the weigh-in. The fight was canceled by the British Boxing Board of Control.

Wayne had agreed to fight at a slightly higher weight than usual, and he made that weight easily. But Martínez weighed too much! He was almost 2 pounds over the agreed weight. Martínez was given a couple of hours to lose the extra weight, but he didn't try. The boxing officials then closed the scales. Wayne was very upset, saying, "I couldn't believe it. He comes in over the weight and then after being asked to take it off he just sits there and does nothing. I just can't believe what has happened. I was ready to fight and ready to win and he comes in that much over the weight."

Retirement from Boxing

On 20 June 2008, Wayne McCullough fought Juan Ruiz in the Cayman Islands. This was his first fight in three years. He lost the fight after six rounds, deciding to stop. Even though he was ahead on two of the three judges' scorecards, he told his corner he couldn't continue because of an injury he got during training. Wayne then took the microphone and told the crowd this might be his last fight. He said, "I think this could be my last fight and I want to thank you all for coming. I am disappointed with the way things went but I just felt I could not go on."

Wayne's Personal Life

Wayne McCullough married Cheryl Rennie, who is also from Belfast, in May 1993.

In 1998, Wayne's daughter, Wynona, was born in Las Vegas. She uses the stage name Wy Mac. She is becoming well-known as a singer, songwriter, and content creator.

In May 2004, Wayne officially changed his name by deed poll.

Professional Boxing Record Summary

See also

In Spanish: Wayne McCullough para niños

• List of Irish sportspeople