IF LIFE is about timing then the timing was all wrong when John Breen got a call offering his fighter Marc McCullough the chance to take on Carl Frampton's next opponent Leo Santa Cruz.
The proposed rumble was at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 5 last year on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao mega-fight and it turned out that it would have guaranteed McCullough the biggest payday of his career.
But the Belfast featherweight was out of shape and overweight when he got the call. In boxing there's always the danger that if a fighter turns up under-prepared and struggling on the scales he's putting his health on the line, never mind his career. Coach Breen wasn't prepared to risk that.
"Blain McGuigan (Cyclone Promotions) rang me about five or six weeks before the fight and said: 'I've a big fight for you but you can't ask me any questions'," explained Breen.
"I'll get Marc a fight on this bill, you can't ask me any questions but it'll be a massive payday.' I said: 'You must be able to give me some sort of hint.' He says: 'I can't, but it'll be a massive payday'.
"I rang Marc up and told him what Blain had said to me. He says: 'How much is it?' I says: 'Marc we're talking about six weeks away and you're a stone and-a-half overweight.
"He said: 'So you don't want me to take the fight?' I said: 'No. I don't want you to take it', so I rang Blain back and told him we weren't taking it.'
"About a week later I saw Leo Santa Cruz on the bill fighting a wee sparring partner (Jose Cayetano) and I thought 'Jesus, McCullough would have destroyed Santa Cruz'.
"Marc wanted the fight because of the money and we found out after that the wee sparring partner got $750,000 for it. I said to Marc 'If you had been fit I would have taken the fight, but there's no chance of you losing 18lb and being fit and strong to beat anybody in six weeks time'. He said: 'You're probably right, you're probably right'.
"The wee sparring partner gave him all the trouble he wanted and I taped it and put it on again a couple of times. On that night Santa Cruz didn't look impressive to me."
Since then Santa Cruz stepped up to featherweight and beat Abner Mares to win the WBA world title and he defended the belt by blowing Kiko Martinez away in five rounds. Frampton meets the California-based Mexican at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on July 30 and Breen is confident the Tiger's Bay fighter will bring home the belt.
"If Marc could have beat him, Carl will definitely beat him," said Breen.
"He's tall compared to Carl and that's the only problem for Carl, Carl's small for a super-bantamweight nevermind a featherweight but Carl is a good wee boxer and he's going to be smart and do what he's told.
"The McGuigans have done a great job with him, nobody can deny that and I have a feeling Carl has the beating of Santa Cruz."
FERGAL McCrory is hunting Hylo. The Tyrone lightweight has called out rival Paul Hyland jnr for an all-Irish rumble that he says would make good business sense and give fight fans a night to remember.
There's no doubt that the match-up would put bums on seats but the main stumbling block is the gulf in the fighters' experience. Hyland is currently 12-0 and has climbed up to 12th in the British rankings while McCrory has only had two professional contests. Hyland wants to fight for the Irish title, but McCrory isn't eligible to go 10 rounds because he hasn't been in an eight-rounder yet. However, he says he'll get that sorted out if he has to.
"If they're not going to fight unless it's for the Irish title then I'll have to go and sort an eight-rounder out," said the Coalisland man.
"But I think it makes sense now if he wants a good, hard fight. I think it would be brilliant to watch and I'd really enjoy the fight myself – it would be hard no doubt but me and John (Breen) are sure we'll win the fight."
Hyland is the busiest Irish fighter on the pro circuit. Last year he fought five times and he has been out three times in 2016 already – his last outing was a TKO win against Hungarian journeyman Laszlo Fekete at the National Stadium, Dublin.
However, McCrory is confident that a meeting of the two undefeated Irish prospects would pack out a Belfast venue and benefit both fighters' careers.
"The people in Tyrone are unreal, my ticket sales are mad and we would be taking a big crowd down," he said.
"I hear Hylo sells tickets also and I would even appeal to the people that don't know either of us to come and watch the fight.
"I have nothing but respect for Hylo, I wasn't being cheeky calling him out – he is a good lad and he has good people around him. But it's business and financially it would make sense.
"I don't think it's too early for me to fight Hyland. I really think I'll beat him, there'd be nothing easy about it but if we fought I'd win."
The fighters and their fans have been involved in some exchanges on social media already and McCrory says that the iconic Ulster Hall would be the ideal place to settle the argument once and for all.
"It would definitely push both of us in Ireland," he said.
"I've only had two fights so I can see where he's coming from but if he fought me it would be his biggest payday by far.
"I think the Ulster Hall would be the venue. I don't think the Devenish would be big enough or the Europa. I've had to get more tickets for both of my fights and I think my ticket sales would double.
"I'd love to fight him. Hylo says he would slap me stupid so let him come and get a big payday and slap me stupid then. Just step up."
JAMIE Conlan and Tyrone McKenna will fight at Cardiff Ice Arena on Saturday night.
Commonwealth super-flyweight champion Conlan takes on Czech hopeful Patrik Bartos on an action-packed card that also features Liam Williams (14-0-1) versus Gary Corcoran (15-0) for the Commonwealth and British super-welterweight titles, Terry Flanagan (30-0) against Mzonke Fana (38-9) for the WBO World lightweight title and Guillermo Rigondeaux's WBA Super World super-bantamweight title showdown with James 'Jazza' Dickens (22-1).
Conlan foe Bartos has won two out of his four fights this year and took the vacant Czech super bantamweight title last time out. However, Conlan should be out of his league.
The MGM fighter was involved in a fight of the year contender against tough Geordie Anthony Nelson in April at London's Copper Box Arena. The Belfast man (16-0) was down twice but stopped Nelson with a wicked bodyshot to take the Commonwealth belt.
The opponent for McKenna, Conlan's stablemate at the MGM gym, hasn't been confirmed.
