By Elliot Foster
Marco McCullough had to fight through a sticky patch to continue his recovery mission.
The Belfast featherweight, who had lost two of his previous five, has now picked up a fringe belt having lost out in a challenge for the Commonwealth crown earlier this year.
McCullough (now 16-3, 10 KOs) retired his opponent, Luis Lugo, after the fourth round, exclusively live on BoxNation at the Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast.
He won the first round quite convincingly, at the top of the bill of the ‘Homecoming’ card which also featured wins for both Jamie Conlan and the successful professional debut of Olympic hero Paddy Barnes, but was forced to cling on in the second.
And cling on he did. It was the beginning of the end from there as he took over proceedings and ultimately floored his opponent –– who is now 17-6-3 (4 KOs) –– twice before his corner withdrew him with an arm injury.
With victory over the little-known Lugo in his home city, McCullough picked up the vacant WBO Inter-Continental title at 126 pounds and advanced his pro ledger as he looks to now push on to bigger and better things in 2017.
