McCullough buzzing before Belfast return

Almost two years to the day after having his licence suspended by the British Boxing Board of Control, Wayne McCullough makes an emotional return to his home town of Belfast tonight to face the Russian Nikolai Eremeev in a 10-round featherweight contest at the Maysfield Leisure Centre.

The sold-out signs were posted weeks ago at the 2,000-seat venue and McCullough, the former World Boxing Council bantamweight champion, estimates that as many as 5,000 more of his supporters would have paid to see him in a bigger arena.

"It's been incredible," said McCullough, who is now a Las Vegas resident and is fighting in Belfast for the first time in seven years. "Everywhere I go people have been wanting to talk to me and asking for my autograph. It is going to be a tremendous feeling to fight in front of the Irish fans at last, and there will be an electrifying atmosphere."

In a city and an area sadly lacking in sporting achievement McCullough is probably the biggest star. He believes he can win another world title despite time out of the ring when he spent a small fortune in compiling a thick dossier of medical evidence to convince boxing's governing bodies of his fitness to fight.

"It was so hard for Wayne," said his wife Cheryl who, as ever, will be at ringside tonight. "When he failed his brain scan, suddenly everything he had known was taken away. But Wayne is really buzzing now and everybody in Belfast is talking about the fight."

After a comeback contest in America, McCullough trounced Johannes Maisa in four rounds six weeks ago in London and will be aiming for another stoppage victory against Eremeev, who has lost only five times in 25 fights.

"I hope I look good and then I can look ahead. The man I want above all others is Marco Antonio Barrera," McCullough said. "I think he will beat Johnny Tapia tonight [in Las Vegas] and he is the best. But I believe my technique is now better and I'm punching harder and more accurately than earlier in my career.

"After another two fights I will be really sharp and ready to take on the best, including Barrera. I may be 32 but I'm hungry for success and you could say I want to make up for lost time."

Eremeev is not the worst, but McCullough's class and work rate should prevail and may force a stoppage within six rounds.