‘If it was my decision I’d be stepping into that ring’ – injury forces McCullough off Ulster Hall show
Injury has forced Marco McCullough [22(12)-4(3)] off this weekend’s #MTKFightNight.
The popular Belfast fighter was set to follow up what is possibly a career best knockout win over Declan Geraghty with an intriguing match up with at the Ulster Hall on Friday night.
The IBF European rankings title holder was due to fight Viorel Simion [22(9)-3(1)] on the undercard of Paddy Barnes clash with undefeated European and Commonwealth flyweight champion Jay Harris on what promises to be an exciting bill.
Simion has competed at elite level in his career, having shared the ring with Lee Selby, Scott Quigg and ShakurStevenson.
The Romanian lost all three of those bouts, but it has to be noted those defeats against high end operators are the only blotches on his record.
Indeed he brought former world champions Quigg and Selby the distance and soon to be world title challenger Stevenson received massive praise for stopping the now 37-year-old as recent as October of last year.
It was a massive chance for the former Irish champion and British title challenger to kick his career on.
However, he has been denied the chance to secure another noteworthy win by injury.
UPDATE 📋@mccullough_marc ruled out of IBF European title defence against Viorel Simion by injury.
— MTK Global 🌍 (@MTKGlobal) October 9, 2019
We wish the champion a speedy recovery 💨#TeamMTKGlobal
Both MTK and the fighter confirmed he won’t appear on the card after today’s final press conference in Belfast.
“I’m devastated to say the least. I taken two months off work for camp and will be out of pocket. I have pushed myself and trained day in day out for this fight and if it was my decision I’d be stepping into that ring.
“Unfortunately these things happen in boxing and I have to think of my family and put my health first. Thank you to all my sponsors who have helped me out and those who bought tickets to support me. I hope you still go and support the local lads on what will be a great night of boxing.
“I’ll now take some well deserved time off and try and resolve a few issues and hopefully be back in the ring sometime soon.”
