McCullough keen to lend Nevin hand at pro game

Wayne McCullough wants to be the man to help John Joe Nevin make the transition from the amateur game to the pro ranks and believes he can make the Mullingar man a world champion.

Nevin, the 24-year-old Olympic silver medallist, said he is travelling to America this week to sign a pro contract with promoters Golden Boy, who look after the likes of Amir Khan and Saul Alvarez and is fronted by boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya. The reigning European champion and two-time world bronze medallist caused a stir when he withdrew from this month’s World Amateur Championships in Kazakhstan to ensure his move to the paid ranks finally came off.

Nevin initially agreed to turn professional after the Olympics with Khan’s promotional company but the deal fell through and the Westmeath boxer decided to stay amateur.

However, now the bantamweight is set to turn professional, McCullough reckons he can train Nevin to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible. The Belfast native shares a lot of similarities with Nevin, having also won bantamweight silver at the Olympic Games in 1992.

The former WBC bantamweight world champion, who moved to Las Vegas to work with legendary trainer Eddie Futch during his own career, has turned his hand to coaching since retiring and recently contacted Nevin to make him aware he wants to train him, should he choose to leave Ireland.

“I contacted him last week on Twitter but didn’t hear back,” said McCullough. “I’d love to work with him. I believe I could make him a world champion.”

When Nevin was set to turn pro last year, he stated he wanted to continue to work with current coach Brian McKeown at Cavan BC, but he has yet to make clear his future plans. Golden Boy have been more than happy to allow Anthony Ogogo, the British middleweight who won bronze in London, to train and fight on these shores on the undercards of Matchroom shows, while also bringing him over to America in a bid to raise his profile there.

A similar path could be paved out for Nevin, and with few opportunities for exposure in Ireland, some say the Mullingar shuffler would be best plying his trade in the UK or America.

McCullough does not necessarily agree but feels a move Stateside would enable him to work with Nevin.

“He doesn’t need to be in America. I came here for Eddie Futch. I couldn’t turn that down but if he came here I’d definitely teach him the Eddie Futch method.”

McCullough’s fear is Nevin will be swamped with offers and pushed towards bigger names in the sport who may not be able to dedicate their time to converting him into a fully-fledged professional challenger.

“I think he’ll go to a big name trainer who won’t give him the time he needs,” he added. “They have the name but not the time.”