Maurice Cullen: The lightweight with boxing in his blood

MAURICE CULLEN

Born: 30 December 1937 in Wheatley Hill, England

Died: 29 November 2001 at the age of 63

Record: 55 fights, 45 wins (10 by KO/TKO), eight losses (two by KO/TKO), two 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.

Scored 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/future holder of a version of a world title

*Challenger for a version of a world title

The Maurice Cullen fight 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 two of his first 26 fights before being outpointed by Dave Charnley. Cullen’s competitive performance against Charnley saw him face WBA and WBC lightweight champion Carlos Ortiz in a non-title fight in October 1963, but Ortiz floored and outpointed him.

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 (pictured below) in February 1968, being floored four times before being KOd in the eleventh round.

Losses against unbeaten 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 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 beat 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, Cullen lacked punch power, illustrated by his mere 10 wins by KO/TKO.

After he retired, it was reported that 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 bypass in 1998 and died after a heart attack in 2001.