Former WBC bantamweight champion Wayne McCullough says it was “an honour” to present a replica of his title belt to the people of his native city, Belfast.
McCullough flew from his home in Las Vegas to make the presentation to Lord Mayor Ryan Murphy in a ceremony at Belfast City Hall.
“It’s their belt, the belt of the Belfast people,” said McCullough.
The 53-year-old added: “I’ve never forgotten where I came from and this is to show that I haven’t forgotten.”
McCullough won a Commonwealth gold medal as an amateur in Auckland in 1990 and was a silver medallist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, before going on to pursue a professional career.
He became the first Northern Ireland boxer to hold a WBC world title, between 1995 and 1997, a feat also subsequently achieved by Ireland’s Katie Taylor.
McCullough left Northern Ireland 30 years ago and secured the WBC belt by defeating Yasuei Yakushiji in Japan.
‘Proud to be a Belfast man’
“At 15 years old I told my friends I’d be WBC world champion. It was a dream then but if you put in the hard work it can pay off and it paid off for me fortunately. I achieved it,” McCullough said.
“The fight was in Japan, but it was important my first defence was in Belfast and it was important my second defence was in Dublin.
“I lost a lot of money in doing that but I care about the people and it was very important to me in my career to do something like that.
“I was born in Belfast and the people have supported me right throughout my whole career. Although I don’t fight now, there are still a lot of fans that remember you and you have to give back to the people.
“I was born on the Shankill, lived in Highfield. I’m proud of that, proud to be a Belfast man, proud to be a Northern Ireland man, proud to be an Irishman.
“I spent 22 years here, next year I’ll be gone 31 years, but I still have my accent. When we’re flying here, we’re flying home, and when we’re flying to Vegas we’re flying home.”
‘Boxing saved my life in a way’
The former world champion explained the background to the handing over of the belt in Belfast and revealed that a similar presentation will take place in Dublin.
“The WBC, they do things around the world and I’m an ambassador for them. They give out belts to famous figures and people in power and they asked me would I do it and I was like, ‘I’d be honoured to’,” McCullough said.
“So I’m doing this and then next week I’m doing one in Dublin.
“I’m proud of where I come from, but it was a hard upbringing, it was tough, but the toughness sort of helped my boxing.
“In my upbringing boxing was a cross-community thing and it saved my life in a way, coming from the paramilitary place where I’m from it sort of saved my life.
“I had good Catholic friends, good Protestant friends through the years, and still do.
“It [Belfast] has changed for the better. It’s going to continue to get better too I think. When I left it was still bad but now it’s so different.”
