Windsor win will hand Marco McCullough second British title shot

Marco McCullough [19(11)-4(3)] looks set to have a tricky test this Saturday night at Windsor Park but has the perfect motivation – a British title fight.

The Shankill super featherweight is set to face notably game Sunderland journeyman Jordan Ellison on the big Carl Frampton v Luke Jackson undercard at the Belfast football stadium and, assuming he wins, he will be rewarded with a British title fight in October.

British champion Sam Bowen [13(9)-0] will look to face McCullough in a voluntary defence on October 6th at the Leicester Arena, live on BT Sport.

Speaking last night on the Boxing Asylum Podcast, Bowen’s manager Carl Greaves revealed that a fight with Scottish champ Jordan McCorry has fallen through and that he is now looking to bring McCullough in for the big card – which will be Bowen’s promotional debut under Frank Warren.

“We’re still looking for a voluntary and as it stands it’s very thin on the ground,” explained Greaves.

“I think it’s looking like Marco McCullough. He’s fighting next Saturday and if he comes through that okay we’re going to be pushing for that fight with him.”

“He’s a good fighter, Marco. He failed at British level at featherweight but as far as I’m aware there were weight problems that he was suffering with. Hopefully it will be Marco McCullough, otherwise I don’t know who it is we’re going to be boxing.”

McCullough fights Ellison [10(1)-15(4)] this weekend in his third fight back following his eleventh-round loss to British featherweight champion Ryan Walsh last year.

The 28-year-old former Irish champion returned with a nice stoppage win over Ryan Baillie on the Frampton-Garcia bill and was due to face Jono Carroll on the Frampton-Donaire card before the Dubliner pulled out due to a cut. He instead kept busy with a points win over Nicaraguan journeyman Arnoldo Solano.

McCullough would be a voluntary for Bowen who would then face mandatory challenger Ronnie Clark [21(10)-4(1)-2].

The Belfast-based Scot was due to face Mullingar’s Davey Oliver Joyce [7(6)-0] next week in Glasgow before he was forced to pull out after suffering an injury.

‘The Shark’ Clark will now set his sights on the Bowen-McCullough winner having moved into the mandatory slot by virtue of his stunning win over Zelfa Barrett in February.

Barrett [20(12)-1(0)] remains a player on the domestic scene and has been ordered to face Belfast’s Anto Cacace [16(7)-1(0)] in a final eliminator to determine the next mandatory challenger.

Andersonstown talent Cacace was edged out by Martin J Ward in a British title challenge last year and also holds a knockout win over Clark.

Cacace, should he come through Barrett, would not challenge for British honours until next year, and most likely not against Bowen as Greaves plans for their third defence, to win the belt outright, to be a voluntary.

Greaves outlined how “the Board has put him [Cacace] up for a final eliminator with Zelfa Barrett so what will happen there is that the winner of them will face the winner of Bowen and Clark – but I don’t think that will ever happen, unless we choose them as a voluntary.”

“If Sam wins his voluntary [v McCullough] next, then he’ll have his mandatory [v Clark], and then he’ll have another voluntary. Cacace would be mandatory but I don’t know if we’ll have moved on by the time it comes to him.

Listen to last night’s edition of the Boxing Asylum Nuthouse Podcast (featuring Irish-Boxing.com) in full below: