Punchers from the Past-Maurice Cullen

MAURICE CULLEN

Born: 30 December 1937 Wheatley Hill, England

Died: 29 November 2001 at the age of 63

Record: 55 fights , 45 wins (10 by KO/TKO), 8 losses (2 by KO/TKO), 2 Draws.

Division: Lightweight

Titles: British lightweight champion. Won the title in April 1965 and defended it three times before losing it to Ken Buchanan in February 1968.

Major Contests:

Scored wins over: Love Allotey, Johnny Cooke (twice), Guy Gracia, Jim “Spike” McCormack (twice), Dave Coventry (twice), Vic Andreetti (4 times), Joe Tetteh, Rafiu King, Bunny Grant *, Angel Robinson Garcia, Valerio Nunez, Olli Maki*, Boerge Krogh and  Bobby Arthur,

Lost to : Jim “Spike” McCormack, Sammy McSpadden, Dave Charnley*, Carlos Ortiz**,Lloyd Marshall, Ken Buchanan **, Joao Henrique*, Eddie Perkins **

** Former/future holder of a version of a world title

*Challenger for a version of a world title

Maurice Cullen’s story

Cullen’s father fought in boxing booths so boxing was in his blood. He worked as a pipe fitter in the mining industry and boxed as an amateur in National Coal Board competitions before turning professional in November 1959. He lost only 2 of his first 26 fights before being outpointed by Dave Charnley. His competitive  performance against Charnley saw him face WBA and WBC lightweight champion Carlos Ortiz in a non-title fight in October 1963 but he was floored and outpointed by Ortiz. He won the vacant British lightweight title by outpointing Dave Coventry in April 1965 and went on to make three successful defences of the tile earning himself a coveted Lonsdale Belt on the way. He lost the British title to Ken Buchanan in February 1968 being floored four times before being kayoed in the eleventh round. Losses against unbeaten Brazilian Joao Henrique in Sao Paulo and former WBA/WBC light welter champion Eddie Perkins in Copenhagen ended any title hopes Cullen had and he retired in January 1970.

Cullen was an outstanding boxer. His left jab was his most potent weapon. It was fast and laser-like in its accuracy. He combined this with great footwork, a good chin (only Buchanan and Lloyd Marshall beating him inside the distance) and seemingly endless stamina. He actually had Bradycardia. If you have Bradycardia, your heart beats fewer than 60 times per minute. Too slow a heart rate can be dangerous but within certain limits a slow rate allows the heart to conserve oxygen building endurance. On the downside  Cullan lacked punch power illustrated by his  scoring only 10 wins by KO/TKO. After he retired it was reported that from his days even as an amateur he had unrecognised fractures in his right hand so perhaps the lack of power was not surprising. He lost big fights against Charnley, Ortiz and Buchanan when a win against any of them could have led to a world title shot. After retirement he returned to work as a pipe fitter. He had to have a heart by-pass in 1998 and died after a heart attack in 2001.