STARTING again can be demoralising for a boxer after a title loss, but Marc McCullough says he is happy to learn from his mistakes and start climbing the ladder towards title opportunities beginning with Saturday’s contest against Tamworth’s, Jason Baille (5-3)
McCullough’s last outing was a loss to British featherweight champion at the Copper Box in London back in may, but rather than feel sorry for himself, the 27 year-old is happy to learn the lessons from that defeat and make the adjustments he hopes can lead him to title glory in the future.
“You learn a lot,” he said.
“I just felt awful stiff (against Walsh). I’m just trying to change things now. I always try to learn something from these losses and don’t let them get me down.
“We sat down and watched the video, but I was just stiff as a board. I had been feeling like that for a while, so I’m just trying to loosen up.
“I have been sparring great in this camp because I feel a lot looser and things are going brilliant.”
McCullough has had the benefit of sparring with a number of his local contemporaries and he believes this has helped him going into Saturday.
“I have had good spars,” he continued.
“I was helping Paul Hyland get ready for his fight against (Stephen) Ormond and then we had a good few amateurs in throughout the camp and finished with Anto Upton there, so we’ve had good sparring, I’m in good shape and ready to go.”
A good win is just what the Shankill man is hoping for on Saturday which will see him sign off for 2017 on a positive note.
The still harbours ambitions of winning domestic titles, but accepts he must work his way back into contention and is humble enough to accept that he is not owed anything just now.
“I was hoping to get a bigger fight on this show, but coming off a loss is hard to get a good opponent,” he admits.
“It’s just about getting back to winning ways, learning new things and go again in the new year.
“I would rematch any of those boys who beat me, but I probably don’t deserve it if I’m being honest, but I want to build back up and look for a British or Commonwealth title shot next year hopefully.”