UNBEATEN Tyrone McCullagh tops tonight’s ‘Danger at the Devenish II’ bill at the Finaghy Road North complex in Belfast.
The emerging super-bantamweight takes on undefeated German Tom Tran to bring the curtain down on an action-packed 10-fight Ginley Promotions/MTK card that also includes big-hitting Dubliner Phil Sutcliffe jnr, Celtic welterweight champion Paddy Gallagher and the return of former Cyclone Promotions middleweight Conrad Cummings.
Derry native McCullagh, AKA ‘White Chocolate’, is 3-0 for 2017 and is keen to round the year of with an impressive win after his September rumble with Craig Derbyshire ended with the Yorkshire journeyman being disqualified by referee Hugh Russell junior.
“It’s a fantastic bill for a small hall show,” said McCullagh.
“It’s the sort of bill could have been a big show with the boxers on it and fair play to Mark Ginley and MTK for putting it on.”
McCullagh had hoped to be in a Celtic title showdown tonight but couldn’t find an opponent willing to take the fight. However, German Tran, a fighter McCullagh knows from his amateur days, will come to win.
“It’s not a gimme for me,” he said.
“I know him from the amateurs, I’ve seen him about and I know he’s a handy boxer. These are the fights I want because boxing is a short career and you don’t want to be fighting journeymen for four or five years. I want to get in and find out where I can go and these are the fights that will show me that.”
McCullagh signed for MTK (then MGM) in January and has been busy since.
“This will be my fourth fight of the year and it’s been a good year,” he said.
“I was on the undercard of the last Ryan Burnett world title bill and this will be my second time topping a show so it has been a good year, it’s been very tough.
“There hasn’t been too much time between my last fight and this fight so I’m looking forward to getting in, doing a job hopefully and enjoying Christmas then.”
After Christmas he is looking forward to a busy 2018 and being part of some of the huge bills planned for Belfast. Carl Frampton is likely to fight at the SSE Arena in March/April and at Windsor Park in the summer. Meanwhile, LA-based Top Rank star Michael Conlan is being lined up to make his home debut. Every Irish boxer will want to be involved in some, if not all, of those shows and McCullagh is no different.
“I wanted to win my first professional title this year and I believe I would have done if I’d got the opportunity,” he said.
“We were going for a Celtic title for the last show and this show but no boxer from Ireland, Scotland or Wales would take the fight according to my managers. We tried everyone but we had to go down a different route and at least we got this German – he’s got a great record and if I keep winning fights like these the titles will come eventually.”
Meanwhile, chief support Paddy Gallagher has a six-rounder against Hungarian Gergo Vari (21-20-1) and hopes to end 2017 on a high following a busy period after linking up with MTK Global.
“I’ve been very busy all year so I haven’t really stopped training, but I’ve been doing a bit of sparring for this one and just working off the last training camp for the Celtic title fight, so everything’s going well,” said ‘Pat-Man’.
“It’s been brilliant to be busy, but I’m looking forward to getting this one out of the way and then take a few weeks off over Christmas and spend a bit of time with my family.
“I’ve two kids – they’re six and four – so the magic of Christmas will be the main focus! Then I’ll want to prioritise my boxing and my family in the new year.”
Devenish Complex bill:
Tyrone McCullagh (8-0) v Tom Tran (6-0)
Paddy Gallagher (12-3) v Gergo Vari (21-20-1)
Philip Sutcliffe Jnr (13-2) v Andreas Maier (7-0)
Steve Collins Jr (11-1-1) v Istvan Orsos (16-42-2)
Ian Tims (13-4) v Gheorghe Danut (10-26-7)
Alfredo Meli (13-0-1) v Jade Karam (9-4-2)
Anthony Upton (15-1) v Miguel Aguilar (11-38-1)
Conrad Cummings (11-1-1) v Norbert Szekeres (18-62-3)
Taylor McGoldrick (debut) v Michal Ciach (1-2)
Padraig McCrory (1-0) v Michael Mora (11-20)
