McCullough to fight South African

Wayne McCullough looking for a way back to the top

Wayne McCullough will fight South African Johannes Maisa at York Hall, Bethnal Green on 14 September.

Belfast's ''Pocket Rocket'', who fought the BBBC for two years for the return of his licence to box in Britain, begins a three-fight trail that will hopefully take him back to the top.

The former WBC world bantamweight champion, who is planning to move back to Northern Ireland from Las Vegas, is anxious to get into the swing of things.

It gets harder as you get older, but I'm quite happy to do featherweight

Wayne McCullough

If McCullough comes through his first test, and another in October, his new promoter, Frank Warren, has pledged to land him a world title shot.

Warren is looking at a possible challenge to the winner of the WBO featherweight clash between Scotland's Scot Harrison and Julio Pablo Chacon.

That fight is in Glasgow during October, while Warren is also considering a test against Puerto Rico's Joan Guzman, who won the vacant WBO super-bantamweight title recently.

After extending big-hitting world featherweight champions Prince Naseem Hamed and Mexico's Eric Morales in title fights, McCullough also insists he has no fears about moving up again.

"Whatever opportunity comes along, I'll take it,'' said McCullough who was out of the game for 27 months when an abnormality on his brain showed up in a scan.

"I can still do 122lb, although it gets harder as you get older, but I'm quite happy to do featherweight.

"Harrison and his opponent are both good fighters, but I know what it's like to fight at the top level."