WAYNE MCCULLOUGH

Wayne was brought up in the predominantly protestant neighborhood of the Shankill Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He had a poor upbringing and admits that boxing saved his life by keeping him off the streets. Wayne left school at the age of 15, without gaining any qualifications, to pursue his boxing career.

After winning a silver medal in the 1992 Olympics, Wayne moved from Northern Ireland to Las Vegas to go after the American dream. For him that dream came true.

Within a year, Wayne had won the NABF (North American Boxing Federation) title and less then 2 1/2 years into his career he won the WBC world championship-beating the champion in his own backyard in Nagoya,Japan.

Wayne successfully defended his title twice before vacating his belt and moving up in weight to challenge the champion at a heavier class. His dreams were shattered when the judges awarded a split decision to the champion.

Wayne unsuccessfully challenged pound for pound champions Naseem Hamed (1998) and Erik Morales (1999) ending both of their KO streaks and taking them the distance, and according to Morales, gave him one of the top 3 fights of his career.

In October 2000, Wayne was returning to his native Belfast for a homecoming fight. Two days before the fight was scheduled to take place he was told that he had a cyst on his brain, he could never fight again, and that one more blow to the head could kill him. Devastated by this news, Wayne went to see a doctor to make sense of the situation. The doctor told Wayne that he would be fine.

Confused by this information, Wayne flew back to Las Vegas and was advised by the Nevada Commission to visit the Neurosurgery department at UCLA for a more thorough investigation. He did, and within a few weeks Dr. Neil Martin called to say that he had consulted with some the top Neurosurgeons in the United States, and they had concluded that the cyst was not on his brain but in a space between the brain and the skull-the arachnoid space-and that there was no reason to give up his boxing career. Relief swept over Wayne, but the British Boxing Control Board continued to deny him a license. He was relicensed in Nevada and fought again in 2002. After a very public battle, the BBBC could no longer deny him a license and in 2003 he stepped into a British ring.

(Photos courtesy of William Cherry/Press Eye)

Since then Wayne has battled more of the top names in boxing today, including Scott Harrison and Oscar Larios (twice). Unfortunatly, he was unsuccessful in each of those fights. But even though he lost the decisions, he has always won the hearts of the fans. Many people call him the "Peoples Champion"-a title he completely deserves.

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