By Lee Collier

Joe Gallagher trained Liam Cullen enjoyed a successful pro debut at the Tara Leisure Centre in Shaw, Oldham when he defeated Nottingham’s Courtney Owen over six two-minute rounds, winning 59-56 on points.

It had been a long wait for the 24-year-old Cullen who had little amateur experience.  He finally got his chance after Gallagher felt he was ready and the Manchester fighter was happy with how his debut went.  “It couldn’t have gone better on my debut,” revealed Cullen.

“It could have been better if I would have got the stoppage in the second round.  I caught him with a big right hand and followed him to the ropes and let a flurry of about 40 punches go,” recalled Cullen. 

“I could hear them in the corner saying ‘Pick your shots’ but I got a bit carried away.  I thought I’d put it on him and see if the referee stopped it but he didn’t stop it so I kept the pressure and blew myself and then took it easy for the rest of the fight.  Looking back, I should have kept the pressure on and tried to stop him.  I was happy with the performance.”

For a young fighter with little fighting experience after a short amateur career Cullen felt he controlled the pace of the fight and felt the distance didn’t cause any issues for him.  “I felt I dictated the pace, I took him where I wanted him and I let the shots go I wanted to but I would have preferred four three minute rounds as all my training is towards three minute rounds.  It’s like going back to the amateurs with the two minute rounds.”

Cullen instead of facing a journeyman on his debut faced a hungry young fighter in fellow debutant Courtney Owen and Cullen is happy that his debut was against an active fighter wanting to win.  “I was happy with fighting a debutant as I knew it was someone coming to win,” explained Cullen.

“So there was a bit of pressure on both of us so it was equal opportunities for us and he came to fight and we both wanted to win but I prevailed in the end.”

Trainer Joe Gallagher was pleased for his young fighter.  Considering the fight was in a small hall Jack Doughty show the leisure centre was jam packed to the hilt leaving Cullen’s experience a good one.

“I was really pleased for Liam, he has only had 5 amateur fights and I was really pleased with Jack Doughty’s show,” revealed Gallagher.  “It was packed to the hilt and it was standing room only and who says boxing is dead.  That was better attended than some TV shows this year.”

“Liam boxed his pro debut against another debutant, they were both proud kids looking for the win and I felt Liam handled the situation well,” said a proud Gallagher.  “He caught the kid in the second round and unloaded a 40 punch combo.  He paced himself well and picked his shots well and I’m very pleased with his pro debut.”

Gallagher knows the importance of keeping his young fighters busy, with fellow newcomer Danny Randall having two fights in six weeks.  “We will try and get him some more fights and we will more than likely put him on the undercard of a John Murray fight,” stated Gallagher. 

“Liam is learning the game by being in a winning gym, John Murray is winning, Joe Murray, Ofi Burton, [Anthony] Crolla, they are all winning and they all have a winning mentality.”

Gallagher finished off by predicting the youngsters future, “Liam is a good prospect and one to watch, I’m not going to say he will be a British champion but it will be interesting to see where he is in two years’ time.”