BOXING:Bernard Dunne will not be facing Wayne McCullough any time soon according to manager Brian Peters, who, this afternoon, said the challenge issued by the Belfast fighter in an open letter to the Dubliner was not viable considering his recent record.
McCullough, who won an Olympic silver medal in Barcelona 1992, claimed the all-Irish bout against the newly crowned WBA super bantamweight champion is the fight “fans want to see”.
Peters, however, has bigger names in his sights for Dunne. “Wayne’s a good friend and he’s been a great servant to Irish boxing as well as a great world champion,” he said today.
“However, he hasn’t won a fight since 2004 so he really would need to put together a few good wins including a win over a ranked contender before it could be considered a viable fight.”
Peters has targeted a bout with Dunne’s former sparring partner Israel Vazquez of Mexico that would make for a lucrative Irish-Hispanic ticket in Las Vegas, while he revealed IBF champion Celestino Cabellero has offered to travel to Dublin for a unification fight.
“The dream fight would be a big Las Vegas showdown with Israel Vazquez” said the promoter. “He’s currently sidelined with a few long term injuries but is considered one of the best pound for pound fighters in the sport.
“You also have guys like Celestino Caballero calling Bernard out. He says he’d be willing to come to Ireland so right now there are a lot of options to consider including the possibility of a voluntary defence for Bernard at home in Dublin.”
Vazquez sparred with Dunne at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card club in California but is now with Rudy Perez. He has not fought since his third consecutive fight against Rafael Marquez in March last year, when he retained the title having won it back in August 2007.
He vacated the belt in December last year.
