BOXING: Tyrone talks titles as he takes career to '˜Another Level'

Tyrone McCullagh (Derry) lands a telling blow on Edwin Tellez on his way to a fourth round TKO.

The Glen Road featherweight reckons his impressive TKO victory over Edwin Tellez (11-26-05) at the Belfast venue which takes him to 5-0, was his ‘best performance’ as a professional boxer so far.

And he is already plotting his route to a title contest which he hopes to secure before the end of 2017.

Based on his latest performance, he’s certainly on the right track after making light work of his opponent and forcing referee, John Lowey to stop the contest 2mins and 32secs into the fourth round of the scheduled six rounder.

The Spaniard was simply shipping too many punches without reply and the official had no choice but to call an end to the fight when McCullagh delivered a barrage of blows.

It was supposed to be McCullagh’s toughest test in the paid ranks in his first six rounder against a dangerous opponent who shared the ring with current WBC International and European featherweight champion,

Josh Warrington and ex-IBF Bantamweight world champion, Stuart Hall.

And while Tellez certainly had the experience, he had no answer for McCullagh’s precision and quality punches.

The referee brings an end to the contest.

After feeling disappointed with his last outing where he was taken the distance in against Hungarian, Aleksandrs Birkenbergs at the National Stadium, Dublin, McCullagh was delighted to secure the fourth TKO of his hugely promising career.

“I boxed very well,” smiled Tyrone afterwards. “It was my first six rounder so I needed to keep something in the tank for the later rounds.

“I caught him with a good shot at the end of the first round and put him down. He hit me with one or two shots but, apart from that, it was plain sailing.

“I’m delighted,” he continued. “It was probably my best performance to date as a pro. It was definitely the toughest opponent I’ve fought, He’s had over 40 fights and has been in with the likes of Josh Warrington and Stuart Hall. Josh Warrington stopped him in five, I stopped him in four.

Tyrone McCullagh celebrates taking his pro career to 5-0.

“I’m not sure if he wasn’t happy with the stoppage but the referee said he wasn’t replying much and was taken a good few shots. I was hitting him a good lot and he wasn’t replying much but it’s the referee’s call at the end of the day.

“He was catching me the odd time when I was hitting him and as I was coming out he was throwing big swings and he was catching me. Gerry Storey (trainer) told me the only thing I was doing wrong was not keeping my hands up when I was coming out. So I started doing that in the third and fourth round and he was landing nothing.”

So what’s next for the talented southpaw? “I’d love to win the Irish title but I might have to take the alternative route and win the Celtic title, the British title or the European title. But I’m definitely aiming for big things,” he concluded.