Tyrone McCullagh 'gutted' but shows plenty of heart against top ranked Ryan Walsh

It was the Derry featherweight’s first loss as a professional as the hard-hitting Englishman, ranked No.2 in the world by the WBC, ended his 14 fight unbeaten streak.

And while McCullagh was disappointed to see his journey in the competition end at the semi-final stage, he can take confidence from his performance against the experienced Walsh who now fights Jazza Dickens in the final.

The fleet-footed southpaw boxed beautifully for the opening five rounds when he was ahead on the cards with his reflexes, awkward style and boxing skill-set serving him well. He admitted he felt it was ‘too good to be true’ as Walsh failed to get grips with him.

However, it was in the second half of the 10 rounder when things went badly wrong.It began when Walsh landed a powerful overhand right in the sixth round which shook McCullagh to his boots and suddenly the fight turned in the Englishman’s favour as he dropped McCullagh to the canvas to secure a 10-8 round with the knockdown and the Derry man admitted his ‘survival’ instincts began to kick in.

Walsh dominated the remainder of the fight as he got the measure of his opponent and when a second knockdown came at the end of the ninth following a big shot to the left temple, the British champion grew in confidence and began to close down the angles at will as McCullagh struggled to regain his composure.

He showed tremendous heart to hear the final bell but the judges awarded Walsh a unanimous points victory by rather lop-sided margins of 96-92, 97-91 and 97-91.

While the margin of those cards can be debated, McCullagh had no arguments that the better man won out on the night but he’s opted to take the positives. It was a brave effort from the Glen Road native, now 14-1-0 and took encouragement as he proved he’s able to withstand some powerful, crunching shots from a man ranked No.3 in the world by the WB0 and in the top 15 of the WBC rankings.

“I’m disappointed but I enjoyed every minute of it,” said McCullagh. “I lost my ‘0’ but I’m not here to fight nobodies.”

McCullagh fell short in his attempt to win the tournament where the winner will transform their career with a lucrative five fight contract with a top promoter.

However, he has no regrets stepping up from super-bantamweight and putting his unblemished on the line given the Sky Sports and ESPN exposure and unique, invaluable learning experience he’s had.

“It didn’t pay off but I raised my profile,” added the reigning WBO super-bantamweight European champion. “I’ll take the defeat but I’ll be back. I loved every minute of it. One thing I was proud of was that I knew I was going to be tested in the fight. I had never been properly punched before, In my first 14 fights I didn’t take a lot of punishment but I took a lot in there on Friday night but I got up and kept fighting. I showed I have balls and a bit of heart.”

Walsh needed to work hard in an attempt to break down McCullagh’s resolve and the Norfolk native admitted he had never fought anyone quite like the Derry man before.

“Tyrone is trying to outscore you,” he said. “He’s trying to nick rounds but what I didn’t expect was what he took. That is one tough, tough man. I have to credit my opponent. That’s the most I’ve run around in a ring my whole life. I’ve never fought anyone like him and he’s given me so much.”

McCullagh, who will take some well deserved time off to recover from back-to-back training camps and Friday night’s gruelling 10 rounder, hasn’t watched back the fight to understand where he went wrong on the night. Whether it was complacency having been cruising in the opening rounds or simply the fact he failed to hurt Walsh or show enough effective aggression to discourage him from coming forward, McCullagh knows he must ‘tweak’ certain things before returning to the ring.

“I haven’t had the chance to watch the fight back yet but the first five rounds I thought it was too good to be true,” he said. “He came out and caught me in the sixth and it unravelled from there. I went into a bit of survival mode. I’m not sure if I won the seventh. I thought I might have pulled it back a bit but then in the eighth, ninth and 10th I know I lost all three.

“It was big shots he was hitting me with. He dropped me with a big head shot in the sixth and it hurt. I got back up. The body shots were taking their toll. He was ringing them in. The second droppage wasn’t a knockdown,” he claimed. “He caught me but he threw me to the floor afterwards. I thought I coasted the first five rounds but he won the last five obviously more convincing than I won the first five.

“I don’t think the judges’ scorecards reflected the fight fairly. I thought the 97-91 card was harsh but it always seems to be that way for me in all my fights. The problem is whether I lost concentration, which I’m not sure, or if it was simply the case that the shot in the sixth was always going to come one way or another which would be more worrying.

“Would I have been in trouble anyway or was it just a loss in concentration? Either way I think I need to tweak a few things. I could out-box people all day but I need to start learning to hurt people a bit more because they will land that shot sooner or later.

“The first five rounds I could see he was worried. He was panicked and didn’t know what to do. You could see the frustration but as soon as he landed that punch in the sixth round it just completely turned. He wasn’t bothered and was just walking forward.

“He obviously hurt me and was going for the kill. I was just trying to survive. I wasn’t boxing the way I was in the opening rounds. I was just trying to move and not get hurt again. I’m gutted but at the same time it was my 15th fight and he had 30 fights. He had a lot more experience and he’s a big hitter. My coach, Pete (Taylor) was delighted (at the final bell). He actually told me to go out and put my hands up at the end of the fight because I might have got it (the decision) but I knew within myself I didn’t.

“The fact he’s at world level and it was my 15th fight, Pete was happy. There’s stuff to work on. There’s always improvements to make and always things to learn. He’s ranked No.3 in the world and so it was a big ask. I thought I could do it and did well for five rounds but unfortunately it’s a 10 round fight.

“Everyone has told me I did well and didn’t let anyone down but I obviously feel like I have. A lot of people saying my profile has been raised and I’ve done myself proud but that’s small consolation at the moment,” he admitted.

McCullagh certainly didn’t do his reputation any harm at all but what’s his next move?

“I’ll need to sit down with Pete and my manager to see what’s next. In the contract there’s options for a third and fourth place play-off between the two semi-final losers, so that’s myself and Leigh Wood. Again that would be another very tough fight. He’s a top operator. If the fight is there we will have to take it but I will sit down and see what’s next over the coming weeks.”

“I’ve been flat out since August last year preparing for the quarter-finals and didn’t have much of a break between the quarter-finals and semi-finals so I will take time to let my body recover and get back at it then.

With Walsh meeting his good friend and former MTK Liverpool stablemate, Jazza Dickens in the final, who does McCullagh want to go all the way?

“It’s really interesting in the final. On one hand I would like to see Jazza win it because he’s a mate of mine but on the other hand a Walsh win might look a bit better for me,” he smiled. “It’s very interesting but Walsh will probably be favourite. Jazza was 4/1 underdog against Leigh Wood in the semis and he upset those odds so it will be epic.”