MAURICE CULLEN
Born: 30 December 1937 in Wheatley Hill, England
Died: 29 November 2001 aged 63
Record: 55 fights, 45 wins (10 by KO/TKO), eight losses (two by KO/TKO), two draws.
Category: Lightweight
Topics: British lightweight champion. He won the title in April 1965 and defended it three times before losing to Ken Buchanan in February 1968.
Goal wins over: Love Allotey, Johnny Cooke (twice), Guy Gracia, Jim “Spike” McCormack (twice), Dave Coventry (twice), Vic Andreetti (four 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 manager/future holder of the world title version
*Importer of world title version
The fight story of Maurice Cullen
Cullen's father fought in boxing houses, so boxing was in his blood. He worked as a pipe fitter in the mining industry and boxed as an apprentice in National Coal Board tournaments before turning professional in November 1959.
He lost just two of his first 26 fights before being mentored by Dave Charnley. Cullen's rivalry with Charnley saw him face WBA and WBC lightweight champion Carlos Ortiz in a non-title fight in October 1963, but Ortiz knocked him down and pinned him.
He won the vacant British lightweight title by pinning Dave Coventry in April 1965 and went on to successfully defend the title, earning himself the Lonsdale Belt along the way. He lost the British title to Ken Buchanan (pictured below) in February 1968, being knocked down four times before being KOd in the eleventh round.
Losses to undefeated Brazilian Joao Henrique in Sao Paulo and former WBA/WBC light-welterweight champion Eddie Perkins in Copenhagen ended Cullen's title hopes, and he retired in January 1970.
Cullen was an outstanding boxer. His left jab was his most powerful weapon. It was fast and laser-like in its accuracy. He combined this with great footwork, a good chin (only Buchanan and Lloyd Marshall beat him inside far) and a seemingly endless stamina. He actually had Bradycardia.
If you have Bradycardia, your heart beats less than 60 times per minute. A very slow heart rate can be dangerous, but within certain limits, a slow heart rate allows the heart to conserve oxygen, building endurance. Cullen, on the other hand, lacked punching power, shown by his 10 wins by KO/TKO.
After his retirement, it was reported that even as a novice, he had unknown holes in his right hand, so perhaps the lack of strength was not surprising. He lost big fights against Charnley, Ortiz, and Buchanan where a win in any one of them would have led to a world title shot. After retirement, he returned to plumbing. He had to have a heart bypass in 1998 and died after a heart attack in 2001.
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