McCullough in a hurry to gain world title belt

WAYNE MCCULLOUGH has given himself five months to make it back to the top.

The Irishman, known as the ‘Pocket Rocket’, made a winning return on Saturday night with a fourth-round stoppage of South African Johannes Maisa at York Hall, Bethnal Green.

And afterwards, McCullough, a former WBC bantamweight champion, said: ‘‘I was pleased with my performance.

‘‘I want to fight regularly and hope to get a world title fight next February, but I expect to have three more fights leading up to that.’’

McCullough had not competed in Britain for almost seven years after a dispute with the British Boxing Board of Control dragged on for almost two years.

McCullough was prevented from boxing in Britain in October 2000 because a cyst was found during a routine brain scan.

But he sought further medical opinion and was given the all-clear by several neurosurgeons.

However, despite being allowed to box in Nevada, it was not until May 2002 that he had his British licence restored.

McCullough started slowly and for the first half of the first round, Maisa was catching him.

However, McCullough soon found his range and looked if he was shaking off any ring rust.

The second round was also a lively one, with McCullough pumping out jabs and sending in single shots to the head and body.

McCullough started to get on top of his man in the third, with body shots forcing the South African to retreat to the ropes.

In the fourth round, McCullough went for the finish and forced his opponent into a corner with a volley of punches to the head. Referee Richie Davies stopped the contest after two minutes 12 seconds of the fourth round.

McCullough will fight again next month in Glasgow and then aim to get a crack at a world title early in 2003.

Meanwhile, Kevin Lear of West Ham made the first successful defence of his WBU super-featherweight title when he stopped Bulgaria’s Kirkor Kirkorov in the sixth round of their title fight at the York Hall.

Lear was always in charge of a rather scrappy contest. He floored the Bulgarian in the second round and also in the sixth round, and to add to Kirkorov’s problems, he was cut by the left eye in the third round from a clash of heads.

Lear was really on top in the sixth, and referee Mickey Vann halted the action after two minutes 55 seconds of the round.

Meanwhile Oscar De La Hoya took the honours in his grudge match against fellow Los Angeles middleweight Fernando Vargas.

De La Hoya added Vargas’ WBA belt to his WBC crown, with a stunning display in the final round, which saw referee Joe Cortez stop the fight one minute 48 seconds into it.

De La Hoya knocked down Vargas for the first time in the contest with a left hook, before laying siege into his opponent on the ropes until Cortez halted the bout. It brought an end to a thrilling contest in front of a 11,425 crowd at the Mandalay Bay hotel, which would have been tough to call had it gone the distance.

De La Hoya is reported to have earned in the region of $14m for the contest, but the fight meant much more than that given Vargas’ constant expression of dislike for him. He even vowed to ‘‘beat him and send him into retirement.’’

‘‘He talked a lot of stuff about me that I didn’t like,’’ De La Hoya added. ‘‘I had to teach him a lesson.’’