By Terence Dooley
Northenden’s Liam Cullen moved to 2-0 with a points win over perennial loser Mark Lewis on the undercard of stablemate John Murray’s EBU title victory over Gary Buckland back in May, Cullen had hoped that highlights of this fight would be broadcast on Sky TV only to be left disappointed. However, the 24-year-old believes that the big bill experience will hold him in good stead during the coming months.
“It was a big difference for me,” enthused Cullen when discussing the fight. “Whether the cameras were rolling or not, which I think they were, it is about being there and seeing all the guys from Sky Sports and knowing it is a big deal, it was a good experience to get that kind of show under my belt.
“Performance-wise, my debut win over [Courtney] Owen was a slightly better performance because the kid came to win more. In the second fight, Lewis weighed in heavier than me and though he was there in front of me throwing punches, he wasn’t the type of opponent who I could counter so I preferred the first one.”
Cullen turned over in March with a six-twos triumph over fellow debutant Courtney Owen on a small hall show, the Joe Gallagher-trained fighter had a short amateur career, only five unpaid outings, consequently he is planning to learn as he earns.
“I’m learning all the time when getting into the ring and in sparring, I’m trying to show what I can do and am always looking for opportunities to throw more shots and combinations. I want to keep the Ws coming, keep my weight down and inch towards light-heavyweight. Fight-wise I’m looking at my power telling down the line but want rounds under my belt to compensate for my inexperience. I want to show people what I’m capable of,” declared Cullen.
“I’ll be a lot more competitive when it comes to looking at titles at light-heavyweight. I keep my eye on cruiserweight and light-heavy but my heart is set on light-heavyweight – I think the picture there will have a changed a lot by the time I’m getting into the title mix. I always check the ratings and keep my eye on what is happening.”
Gallagher has compared Cullen to Roy Jones Junior – no pressure there – and has also pointed out that his latest charge is blessed with model looks; Liam, though, prefers the ring walk to the catwalk.
“You can use that type of thing for the headlines but my heart is in the boxing. I don’t mind it to be honest, it gives me a bit of exposure I suppose,” laughed Liam when asked about the ‘model’ pro angle.
“I’m really enjoying everything I’m doing,” he continued. “It is great to be around John and Joe [Murray], Anthony [Crolla] and Danny [Randall] in the gym, we have the craic and the hard graft – I’m loving it. Having them around me helps me to believe in myself more, especially when you look at how far Joe [Gallagher] has come with John, it inspires me and gives me that extra belief.
“Me and Danny are the young guns, we are playing catch-up to the positions John and Crolla are in, they are both holding or looking at titles, then you look further ahead of John and hope you can get that far. I think I’m in the right place to get there in the future.”
Indeed, Cullen draws his fistic inspiration from close to home; his gym-mates are high on his list of favourite fighters, though he also tries to adopt a move or two from domestic and world-level slicksters.
“Like Danny [Randall] says, you can’t help but look at John’s style and Joe Murray, I also like slick boxers like Paul McClosky and Ian Napa, that kind of style. I’ve always been a big Roy Jones fan and Floyd Mayweather’s skills can’t be faulted. I understand that everyone has their own way of doing it but you look at things you like, and body types that are similar to yours, and do try to bring things in, throw in the odd technique and see what it does for you.”
With a fight scheduled for next month, Cullen is close to closing out his debut season with a 3-0 slate; he believes that he needs to make up for that lack of amateur experience and has set himself a realistic target.
“I just have to build the experience”, he admitted, “keep winning and maybe in a year’s time look at a Central Area title.” This mantra was repeated by trainer Joe Gallagher. “Liam only had five amateur fights so is learning as he fights. John [Murray] only had twenty-seven (amateur bouts) so it can be done successfully,” stressed Gallagher.
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