Photograph: fightsrec.com
Belfast coach John Breen reckons his featherweight prospect Marc McCullough will learn a lot from his WBO European title victory over Martin Parlagi on Friday, June 20. McCullough was dropped heavily in the fourth round but battled back to outbox his Czech foe. Even though a laceration across the bridge of McCullough’s nose seemed ugly, Breen reckons that his fighter will be back out again on September 6 as part of the Frampton-Martinez undercard.
“The doctor said four weeks out so he’ll be ready for September which will be ideal. A fight with Martin Lindsay would be a backwards step for Marc. Sometimes Marc wants to fight and I told him to go and box instead. Marc is a hard guy but that guy was harder.
“Parlagi wasn’t getting knocked out so I told Marc to just box him. He was only boxing for a minute of a round, throwing a few shots and then walking away. You learn from fights like that.”
For so long a staple of the Belfast boxing scene, Breen is moving from his Lombard Street gym and into new premises. It’s the end of an era but an exciting move for the veteran trainer and his understudy Eamonn Magee.
“I’m leaving the gym next week and I’m bringing champions with me to the new gym. If the boys had got beaten tonight then I was packing it in, that was me finished from boxing. That’s how confident I was because I knew they weren’t going to lose.”
John also had some good things to say about another standout in the stable, super-flyweight Jamie Conlan who defeated Gabor Molnar on the Waterfront Hall undercard.
“Jamie’s a good puncher, I know how hard he can punch. He’s a good boxer too though. I’ve never seen Jamie hurt and it will take a good man to put him down. It’s a learning curve for him. He needs to get punches working together, to start throwing one-twos instead of single shots,” opined Breen.
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