Irish Sport part 1

Ward returns at open side for historic Wembley showdown

by Barry Coughlan
IRELAND'S injury problems have diminished but there are question marks still surrounding the make-up of the Welsh side for the Five Nations clash at Wembley on Saturday.
History will be made when Ireland play at Wembley for the first time and Andy Ward returns to the fray after missing the game against France.
Ward, not surprisingly, is named at open side flanker. Eric Miller moves from number six to eight and Dion O'Cuinneagain from seven to six, highlighting the amount of forward talent Ireland have at their disposal.
But there is bad and uncertain news for Wales. Jonathon Humphreys is out of the Welsh side and won't play again this season, while David Young is still facing a day or two of indecision as he battles to overcome the injury which kept him out of the Scottish game on Saturday week.
Welsh coach Graham Henry will wait until tomorrow before Craig Anthony is again considered for a starting place in the side.
Humphreys' withdrawal – he will be replaced by Barry Williams – follows hot on the heels of the loss of Allan Bateman, a key figure in the Welsh midfield in his partnership with Scott Gibbs.
Back in the Irish camp, Ward takes over from Victor Costello who makes way for him although the St. Mary's player proved his fitness over the last couple of days.
Costello, who damaged ribs against France, has made a big recovery and is retained in the squad but must satisfy himself with a place on the bench instead of Trevor Brennan who is suspended after being sent off in a club game for St. Mary's against All-Ireland League champions Shannon last week.
Ireland's team manager Donal Lenihan is confident that Costello will be fully fit by Saturday.
''At a push we could have selected him in the team itself but are more than happy to be able to include him in the squad,'' said Lenihan.
Meanwhile, David Corkery has been included on the Irish A team to meet Wales A in Ebbw Vale on Friday evening and David Wallace will be a substitute.
Richie Weir (Portadown) has withdrawn through injury and is replaced by Frank Sheahan (Cork Constitution).
Wales hooker Humphreys requires, in fact, a back operation.
But lock Craig Quinnell has recovered from a knee ligament injury and takes over from Pontypridd's Ian Gough.
Skipper Robert Howley and number eight Scott Quinnell have shrugged off minor knocks to take their respective places in the starting line-up.
They are two much-changed sides from the encounter at Lansdowne Road last season.
Only two of the Irish back division are, for instance, retained in the side with Kevin Maggs and Conor McGuinness being the only survivors.
Wales have three – half backs Howley, Neil Jenkins and centre Scott Gibbs.
But Ireland, at least, have managed to keep a bigger number of their pack together. Keith Wood, Paul Wallace, Paddy Johns and Ward are all included, while Costello is on the reserves bench.
Two of the substitutes last season, Peter Clohessy and Miller, are back in the team which indicates a greater stability of selection up front than Wales.
In fact, there is only one guaranteed survivor from Lansdowne Road last season and that is Colin Charvis. David Young may or may not play and that would bring the list to two.
IRELAND: C. O'Shea (London Irish), J. Bishop (London Irish), J. Bell (Dungannon), K. Maggs (Bath), G. Dempsey (Terenure), D. Humphreys (Dungannon), C. McGuinness (St. Marys). P. Clohessy (Young Munster), K. Wood (Harlequins), P. Wallace (Saracens), P. Johns (Saracens), J. Davidson (Castres), D. O'Cuinneagain (Sale), E. Miller (Terenure), A. Ward (Ballynahinch).
Replacements: R. Henderson (Wasps), E. Elwood (Galwegians), C. Scally (UCD), M. Galwey (Shannon), J. Fitzpatrick (Dungannon), R. Nesdale (Newcastle), V. Costello (St. Mary's).
WALES: S Howarth (Sale); M Robinson (Swansea), M Taylor (Swansea), S Gibbs (Swansea), D James (Pontypridd); N Jenkins (Pontypridd), R Howley (Cardiff); D Morris (Swansea), B Williams (Richmond), D Young (Cardiff) or C Anthony (Swansea), C Quinnell (Richmond), C Wyatt (Llanelli), C Charvis (Swansea), M Williams (Pontypridd), S Quinnell (Llanelli).
Replacements: K Morgan (Pontypridd), L Davies (Cardiff), D Llewellyn (Ebbw Vale), (from): G Lewis (Pontypridd), M Voyle (Llanelli), G Jenkins (Swansea), I Gough (Pontypridd), A Lewis (Cardiff), Young or Anthony.
IRELAND A (revised): G. D'Arcy (Lansdowne), J. McWeeney (St. Mary's), S. Horgan (Lansdowne), K. Keane (Garryowen), N. Woods (London Irish), B. Everitt (Lansdowne), G. Easterby (London Scottish), R. Corrigan (Lansdowne), A. Clarke (Dungannon, captain), a. McKeen (Lansdowne), M. Blair (Ballymena), G. Longwell (Ballymena), D. Corkery (Cork Constitution), A. Foley (Shannon), A. Quinlan (Shannon)
Replacements: S. Mason (Ballymena), P. Duignan (Galwegians), T. Tierney (Garryowen), D. Wallace (Garryowen), G. Fulcher (Lansdowne), J. Hayes (Shannon), F. Sheahan (Cork Constitution).

Cats experiment with Carey at midfield against champions Cork

by Jim O'Sullivan
KILKENNY have named D.J. Carey at midfield in an experimental line-up for next Sunday's opening round of the Church & General National Hurling League against Cork in Pairc Uí Rinn, (3 o'clock).
His brother Martin, as predicted, has been chosen in goal in place of the injured Joe Dermody and, notably, All-Ireland midfielders Philip Larkin and Peter Barry from the James Stephens club have been named at left-corner and left half-back, respectively.
Donal O´g Cusack's selection in goal in place of the retired Ger Cunningham represents one of six changes in personnel on the Cork team from the Guinness Munster semi-final against Clare last June. Interestingly, apart from St. Catherine's player John Sheehan (brought in at left half-back), the other five were all members of the All-Ireland-winning U-21 team.
In total, eight of the side will be in the starting line-up, with an additional four (Sean O´g O´ hAilpín, rested because of exams, among them) in the substitutes panel.
Diarmuid O'Sullivan takes over at full-back in the absence of John Browne (unavailable), and the corner positions are filled by Wayne Sherlock and U-21 captain Dan Murphy (impressive as an early substitute for the injured Fergal Ryan in the Clare game).
Sheehan comes into the half-back line in place of O´ hAilpín, Derek Barrett replaces his Cobh club-mate Mick Daly at midfield and with Wales-based Alan Browne left out, Timmy McCarthy is at centre-forward. That represents the only change in personnel in the attack.
Bernard Rochford (Killeagh) is the substitute goalkeeper and the only other newcomers to the panel from last year are Brian O'Keeffe, Brendan Coleman and Neil Ronan.
Meanwhile, Kilkenny will have eight of the team which started in the All-Ireland final against Offaly - with just two players, Michael Kavanagh at right half-back and Charlie Carter at left half-forward picked in the same positions.
Missing are Joe Dermody, Tom Hickey, Pat O'Neill, Willie O'Connor, Canice Brennan, Liam Keoghan and P.J. Delaney. Replacing them are Martin Carey, John Butler and John Costelloe (a late substitute in the final) in the full-back line, Eamonn Kennedy at centre-back, Henry Sheflin and John Hoyne in the half-forward line and Johnny Dooley at full-forward.
Kennedy played in the corresponding game against Cork last season, but didn't figure much in the panel subsequently, Sheflin was one of the top scorers on the intermediate team which lost to Limerick in the All-Ireland final and, like Hoyne, was also on the U-21 team.
Amongst the absentees, Pat O'Neill is recovering from minor surgery, Canice Brennan is in the Lebanon with the Army, Liam Keoghan is taking a break and Willie O'Connor's future involvement could be in doubt.
Meanwhile, Laois have left a vacancy at right corner-forward in their team to play Wexford at Rathdowney on Sunday.
Fionán O'Sullivan is ruled out with a shoulder injury sustained in the Walsh Cup game against Dublin. Otherwise, the team is the same as the one who won that controversial tie. The vacancy may go to James Young who is involved in a Fitzgibbon Cup game with UCD this Wednesday.
CORK: D. O´g Cusack; D. Murphy, D. O'Sullivan, W. Sherlock; M. Landers, B. Corcoran, J. Sheehan; D. Barrett, P. Ryan; K. Morrisson, T. McCarthy, F. McCormack; S. McGrath, S. O'Farrell, J. Deane. Subs: B. Rochford (Killeagh), S. O´g O´ hAilpín, M. Daly, K. Murray, R. Dwane, B. O'Keeffe, B. Coleman (Youghal), N. Ronan.
KILKENNY: M. Carey; J. Butler, J. Costelloe, P. Larkin; M. Kavanagh, E. Kennedy, P. Barry; A. Comerford, D.J. Carey; H. Sheflin, J. Hoyne, B. McEvoy; K. O'Shea, J. Dooley, C. Carter. (Substitutes to be named later).
LAOIS: R. Cashin, P.J. Peacock, B. Maher, J. O'Sullivan, N. Rigney, P. Cuddy, A. Bergin, O. Coss, D. Conroy, D. Cuddy, D. Rooney, C. Cuddy, AN Other, M. Rooney, L. Tynan.
CLARE (v Kerry): D. Fitzgerald, M. O'Halloran, B. Lohan, F. Lohan, J. Reddan, R. Woods, D. Hegarty, C. Lynch, D. Scanlon, F. Tuohy, R. O'Hara, D. Forde, N. Gilligan, B. Murphy, A. Markham. Subs: J. O'Brien, B. Quinn, K. Morrissey, F. Hegarty, B. Minogue, M. Conlon, B. Scanlon, B. Frost, N. Phelan.

Corcoran reiterates
football is out of his plans

by Conor George
BRIAN CORCORAN confirmed yesterday that he would be opting out of inter-county football for the foreseeable future.
Speaking at the launch of the Church and General National Hurling League in the Berkeley Hotel in Dublin, Corcoran pledged that his full devotions would be given to the Cork senior hurling team.
Last November Corcoran reached the decision to opt out of football at inter county level as he felt that he physically could not give the commitment needed to maintain his allegiance to both codes.
"Nothing has really changed since November in that while I am ruling out nothing for the foreseeable future I will be concentrating on hurling and Cork's Munster Championship campaign that gets underway when we meet the winners of the Limerick/Waterford first round match," said Corcoran.
Corcoran's decision has almost certainly brought to an end the era of the dual star as he, along with Sean O´g O Halpin, was the last of the high profile dual inter county stars.
"I am going to see how the year goes and while I cannot say that it is only for this year, what I have decided is, that I will not be taking part with the footballers for the time being at least," he added.
Corcoran did not rule out a return to the football camp at some stage in the future should the hurlers' interest in the championship be brought to a premature end. But for that to happen it would necessitate an approach being made to the player by the management of the football team.
"If the footballers did approach me I would have to give it serious consideration but I really cannot see that happening, irrespective of how the hurling championship goes".
"I am looking forward to Sunday's NHL clash with Kilkenny. It will be my first game this year and while we have been training since the first week in December I will still have to work out some of the cobwebs."

McStay again back to help Ballina

by Brendan Larkin
FOR the fifth time this year Brian McStay will cross the Atlantic to play with Ballina Stephenites in Sunday's All-Ireland Club senior football championship semi-final against Doonbeg in Ballinasloe.
It's an unique occasion in that neither side has reached this stage of the championship before. Indeed neither club had won their provincial title before until this year - and with both counties starved of All-Ireland success, the game should be a titanic affair with the winners going on to a Patrick's Day final.
The Mayo champions will start slight favourites as a result of beating defending champions Corofin. But Doonbeg, who have come through a difficult Munster campaign, will be well up for this one. Ballina are one of the leading clubs in Mayo. Founded in 1884, they have won 33 county titles.
Team coach is Noel O'Dowd, who is manager of the local ACC Bank. He views Sunday's semi-final as the biggest day in the history of Ballina.
"After we had beaten Corofin in the Connacht championship, people began to talk in terms of taking over as All-Ireland champions.
"That kind of talk is very foolhardy. At the time there was still a lot of football to be played, and thankfully we are still on course.
"Apart from the Mayo/Galway rivalry, that win over Corofin was a huge boost to us, and the feeling in the club was that we had a team capable of gong a long way.
"Two years ago Knockmore failed in the All-Ireland final to Crossmaglen. The incentive is now there for Ballina to become the first Mayo team to win the title, but we will be taking nothing for granted.
Interest in Sunday's game in Ballina is huge. Apart from our own followers, we are expecting support from all the clubs in the county. This is a very big game for Mayo football which has been starved of All-Ireland success for far too long.
It's been a long season, but after winning the Connacht title for the first time and seeing what it meant to the people of Ballina, the players are determined to give them more.
"The commitment from the lads has been incredible. Nine of them are living and working away from Ballina and can only get home for training at the weekends, but none of that nine has missed a session. Apart from Liam McHale and two others, the bulk of the team is made up of U-21 and minor players. If anything we have youth on our side.
"McHale will be the key player for us on Sunday. He is playing the best football of his career at present, and was outstanding against Roscommon Gaels in the Connacht final.
"Even though we had seven points to spare at the end (1-10 to 0-6), it was a very difficult match played in appalling conditions that left the players completely drained,
"We took a break from training to celebrate winning the Shane McGettigan Memorial Cup for the first time having lost out in 1985 and 1987, but we have been back in training for a couple of weeks now and everyone is eagerly looking forward to Sunday's semi-final.
"I know very little about Doonbeg as they were playing in Munster at the same time as we were in Connacht. I did see some video action of the Munster final and was very impressed by their never-say-die attitude. That is something we will have to match on Sunday if we are to be successful".
Both teams have been to Ballinasloe to get the feel of the ground and reports say that the pitch is very firm which should make for a great game. Whichever way it goes, Noel O'Dowd and his fellow selectors could not have asked for more from their charges. It's no co-incidence that Ballina wear the same colours as their county. Many years ago they gave the red and green to Yew Plains County, and it would be fitting if they could make it to Croke Park on St. Patrick's Day.

Galway NHL opener delayed

by Brendan Larkin
GALWAY'S opening NHL meeting with All-Ireland champions Offaly at Birr on Sunday has been put back to a week on Sunday at the same venue.
Earlier in the week there had been calls to bring the match forward to Saturday to avoid a clash with the All-Ireland Club hurling semi-final between Athenry and St Josephs/Doora-Barefield which is fixed for Thurles on Sunday. However, Offaly said they were not notified of any change to Saturday and could not accept that change.
The re-scheduled fixture is unlikely to free the Athenry players, however.
Galway manager Mattie Murphy said: "There is no point in getting worked up about anything that is outside our control."
In NHL Division 1A, Galway are due to play Kerry and Antrim on Saturdays (February 27 and April 11 respectively) with the option of moving to the Sunday with the agreement of their opponents. The postponement is to allow Athenry supporters to travel to Thurles.
• Clare will open their NHL programme with a home game against Kerry on Saturday at Cusack Park.

McNamara doubt

A MAJOR doubt surrounds the continuing involvement of goalkeeper Martin McNamara with the All-Ireland winning Galway football team.
He has told manager John O'Mahony he cannot give the commitment required, explaining he was thinking of buying a pub. O'Mahony is non-committal about McNamara's future, while the player himself has denied his decision is linked to rumours of the captaincy switching to him from Ray Silke.
There was speculation after Sunday's NFL game with Cork in Pairc Ui Rinn that McNamara had made an announcement on the team bus he would no longer be involved — despite having travelled by car with reserve keeper Pat Comer.

Doherty is looking for a shake-up

WEMBLEY runner-up Ken Doherty has called for a shake-up of the snooker calendar to prevent burn-out of the top players.
Less than 48 hours after losing to John Higgins in the Benson and Hedges Masters final, Irishman Doherty was back at the table yesterday for his first match in the £370,000 Scottish Open.
Although the 1997 world champion survived a tricky opener against Welsh Open semi-finalist Joe Swail in Aberdeen, winning 5-2, Doherty says the schedule needs revising.
''The season should be spaced out more,'' argued the world number four, who could be in action every day until Sunday if he reaches another final.
''We should have 10 ranking tournaments, with players being able to choose any eight from 10 to play in. At the moment they all come one after the other. It's really only affected me this week. But I can imagine it takes it toll on players like Mark Williams and John Higgins who have been more consistent.''
Doherty meets Scotland's Marcus Campbell today for a place in the third round.
Mark King, a winner over Jimmy White and Peter Ebdon on his Masters debut last week, came down to earth with a bump. The Essex left-hander became the first top-16 seed to fall when he went down 5-2 against Australian Quinten Hann.
Darren Clarke notched ''the best win of my career'' with a 5-1 defeat of Steve Davis. Clarke is now guaranteed £2,600 for reaching the last 32 and that will nearly double if he can beat Scotsman Chris Small.
Davis made the highest break of the match - a 55 in frame three - but missed many easy balls he would have potted blindfold at his peak.
Clarke's win put him into the spotlight in more ways than one. His match was transferred to the main TV table after the walkover for champion Ronnie O'Sullivan.
O'Sullivan's game with Jonathan Birch was to be Sky TV's feature match. However, the Middlesbrough cueman missed his plane from Newcastle and presented the world number three with a bye to round two.
Also safely into the next stage are Masters semi-finalist Alan McManus and former Aberdeen winner Stephen Hendry.
McManus defeated fellow Scot David McLellan 5-2 helped by breaks of 137, 74, 50 and 66 while Hendry whitewashed Lee Richardson 5-0.

Smith inspires Kerry Spring

Kerry Spring Water 90
Neptune 67
TEAM Kerry SpringWater boosted their prospects of qualifying for the Superleague play-offs with an emphatic 23 point victory over Neptune before a capacity crowd in the Presentation Gym, Killarney last night.
Ironically, it was Terry Smith, released by Neptune last November, who came back to haunt his old club with a MVP performance and 23 points.
Exchanges were even throughout the first quarter as three pointers from Shawn Wilson and Gordon Fitzgerald kept Neptune in touch while Vince Daly started brightly for Kerryspring.
Neptune led 15-13 with four minutes left in the quarter but baskets from Terry Smith, Robbie Turner and Cormac O'Donoghue turned it around for Kerryspring to lead 19-15 with three minutes remaining.
However, Neptune finished stronger with point guard David Downey making his mark, while Marcus Wally hit another three pointer to give the Cork side a 23-21 advantage entering the second quarter.
Neptune stretched the lead to four points but Kerryspring responded well and got their running game going as Vince Daly, Robbie Turner, John Teahan and Terry Smith opened up the lead to give them a 35-27 lead. James Fleming, off the bench, also came up trumps for the home side with a hat-trick of three pointers in the closing minutes to give Kerryspring a 44-34 interval advantage.
Neptune clawed the deficit back to six points through further threes from Gordon Fitzgerald and Harold Joiner but Kerryspring upped the tempo again as Terry Smith treated the crowd to some spectacular dunks, ably assisted by point guard Pat O'Shea.
The home side led 62-49 as the game entered the final quarter and it really was a mere formality after this. The final blow for Neptune came when Niall O'Reilly fouled Robbie Turner and also drew a technical foul call with five and half minutes remaining.
Kerryspring top scorers: Vince Daly (24), Terry Smith (23), Robbie Turner (16), John Teahan (10) and James Fleming (9). Neptune: Harold Joiner (18), Shawn Wilson (16), Gordon Fitzgerald (16) and David Downey (6).

Irish ladies going all out to show
they have real class in Belfast

by Brendan Mooney
THE news of Sonia O'Sullivan's absence from the world cross-country championships came as a huge disappointment to the Irish women's team but they are still determined to do themselves justice in Belfast.
"It was a big disappointment to us," Una English admitted. "But we are delighted for her and we hope everything goes well."
Miss English, whose family reside in Cork, was a member of the team that won the bronze medals at the world championships in Turin two years ago when Catherina McKiernan and Sonia O'Sullivan led them.
Since then Una and the other scoring member of that team, Valerie Vaughan, have moved to Dublin to train together.
And they are joined periodically by two time national champion, Maureen Harrington, and last year's runner-up Louise Cavanagh.
"We have put a lot into it," Miss English said. "We were so delighted with Turin and we saw ourselves as having a very realistic medal chance in Belfast."
The Irish challenge may be depleted through the absence of last year's double world champion, Sonia O'Sullivan, and the four time silver medallist, Catherina McKiernan, but they are still determined to give a good account of themselves.
Just how determined they are will be reflected in Sunday's McDonnell's Cup a Soup national championships in Stranorlar.
Una English, who finished runner-up to Valerie Vaughan in the national inter-counties championships in Ballyhaise, will be absent for that race.
Since the withdrawal of Sonia O'Sullivan she has opted for the short course race in Belfast and will run the trial for that in Dublin in a couple of weeks time.
She will be the only notable absentee from the most exciting fields of all time. Maureen Harrington (An Riocht) will be bidding for her third national inter-club title in a row. Louise Cavanagh (UCC AC), who finished second after trying to lead all the way last year, added a new dimension to the challenge when she reversed that result at the Cork County Championships in Kilworth.
And Valerie Vaughan (Blarney/Inniscarra) had them both behind her in Ballyhaise.
Also behind her in the inter-counties was Marie McMahon from Clare who will fly home from the US tomorrow morning on the back of a 9:11 indoor 3,000m run at the weekend.
When she competed in Ballyhaise it was her first cross-country race in Ireland since going to Providence on scholarship.
Another trans-Atlantic challenger will be Rosemary Ryan from Limerick. She eclipsed Miss McMahon during their juvenile days in Ireland and is now enjoying the best form of her entire career.
Another enjoying a new lease of life is Anne Keenan Buckley who has been second five times in this event and will again be challenging for a place on the team and bring in three time winner, Theresa Duffy, third last year, and Geraldine Hendricken and it will become obvious that the selectors will not have to go far outside this race in finalising their long course team for Belfast.
Outside of the trans-Atlantic competitors, the defending champion faces the longest trip to Donegal but then she is used to that. She frequently works late nights in her take-away in Kenmare and then drives to the races the following day.
But she is used to being on her own. In fact she trains alone around Kenmare. However, she will take time to relax before Sunday's race.
She will also compete in the short course race in Belfast if selected and that, too, will be a formidable team with athletes like Niamh Byrne, possibly Sinead Delahunty, Elaine Fitzgerald from Waterford and Geraldine Nolan and Geraldine Hendricken in contention while Maria Lynch is back from altitude training in Kenya.

Matthews doubtful, Power out of national cross-country championships

by Brendan Mooney
DEFENDING champion, Peter Matthews, is very doubtful and Seamus Power, who won the title two years ago, is definitely out of Sunday's McDonnell's Cup a Soup national cross-country championships in Stranorlar.
Matthews has been laid low with flu since the weekend. "I am feeling pretty weak right now and things are not looking good at all for Sunday," he said. "I will wait for a couple of days and see what happens. But I have to look at the bigger picture. If I run on Sunday and things get worse I could possibly miss the world championships and I would not want that to happen.
"It is very disappointing for me. Apart from my own hopes of retaining the individual title the club have a very good chance of winning the team title."
Things are even worse for Seamus Power. He has already conceded that he will not be competing. In fact he has not run since the IAAF Grand Prix race in Belfast. The week before that he finished fourth, one place behind Matthews, in the Adidas Ras na hEireann in Dunleer.
"I was sick for three weeks," he said. "I was not feeling at all good in Belfast. Then I spent two weeks in bed with the flu. And I was just up and about again when I got tonsilitis and I am just over that."
Today he will travel to Dublin to see the BLE Medical Officer, Dr. Brendan O'Brien.
"As I see it right now I will miss the world championships in Belfast and that is a big disappointment."
Last year he was all set to defend his title in Bree but, 24 hours before the event, he was laid low with a tummy bug that was rampant at the time. He still made the trip to Bree but could only look on from the top of the hill as Peter Matthews came off a prolonged back injury to reclaim the title he had won four years earlier.
In their absence the race for the title could be between Cormac Finnerty (Mullingar) and Martin McCarthy (Leevale) who were second and third behind Seamus Power in the inter-counties championships in December.
Since then, however, Dermot Donnelly, has made a spectacular cross-country debut in and Irish singlet in Belfast and he has his sights on the title as well.
Noel Berkeley, who would also be a key figure in DSD's bid to wrest the team title from Mullingar, has been training at altitude in Kenya and could spring a surprise.
Cormac Finnerty, who was Mullingar's first man home at the European inter-club championships in Lisbon a couple of weeks back, will be the key figure in their bid to retain the club title. Tommy McGrath has had to cut back on his training on account of work commitments in recent time.
And the Burke brothers have yet to reproduce their form of recent years. If David Burke was to produce that form then both he and John would be contenders for medals.

McCullough facing tough
Morales battle for title

WAYNE MCCULLOUGH will challenge Erik Morales for his WBC super-bantamweight title on May 8.
The Las Vegas clash with the highly-rated Mexican will be McCullough's second consecutive world title tilt, following his WBO featherweight title defeat to Naseem Hamed.
Morales has successfully defended his title five times and has a record of 32-0, 26 of those wins by knockout.
On Saturday, he issued a chilling warning to McCullough by flattening opponent Angel Chacon in the second round of their bout in Las Vegas.
A big right and a left to the head left Chacon reeling on the ring apron and referee Richard Steele immediately called a halt to the action.
Meanwhile, Naseem Hamed is being backed to finally win over American audiences after signing a six-fight deal with US cable television network Home Box Office.
HBO yesterday announced they have purchased the worldwide television rights for Hamed's fights over the next two years, while Sky Box Office will show the fights in this country.
The first broadcast will be Hamed's 12th defence of his WBO world featherweight title against Paul Ingle at Manchester's MEN Arena on April 10.
Hamed's next two fights will be in the United States, the second in the summer and probably in Las Vegas or New York — and the third in November or December and HBO's first shot at putting Hamed on pay-per-view.
It will also provide an acid test of Hamed's popularity Stateside following the distinctly lukewarm reception to his defeat of Wayne McCullough in Atlantic City in October with an unimpressive points win.
But Kery Davis, HBO's director of programming, promised: "When you add all of his deals up he will be the equivalent of any major sports figure in America."
The Ingle fight will be Hamed's first bout since an acrimonious split with long-time promoter Frank Warren and trainer Brendan Ingle.
Hamed, 24, is now being managed by his brother Riath, with Barry Hearn handling the Ingle fight and probably the next few.
But Lou DiBella, senior vice-president of HBO, claimed the deal will help stabilise Hamed's career after a rocky patch.
"Naseem's primary financial arrangement for television will be handled by us (HBO)," he said.
The undefeated WBO champion was equally delighted yesterday with his new training regime under American Oscar Suarez.
"I've got a totally new trainer who's shown me totally new stuff. I've been doing the same stuff for 17 years and won 31 fights with that same stuff. Now I'm training harder than ever."
The Hamed team see the Ingle clash as a stepping stone towards featherweight unification.
"I want to beat the best fighters," said Hamed. "I want to unify my weight class. I want every belt. Fighters love the belts. We want them wrapped around us."

Doubts cast over O'Brien's top three-year-olds

by Michael Clower
TURFORM has cast an ominous shadow over the Ballydoyle classic prospects by stating that there is a big doubt about the three best colts in the yard getting the trip in the 2,000 Guineas.
The Turform Annual 1998, which has just been published, agrees with the international handicappers that Aidan O'Brien's top three two-year-old colts last season were Stravinsky (disqualified after finishing second in the Prix de la Salamandre and afterwards third in the Dewhurst), the unbeaten Prix Morny winner Orpen and Lavery who won the Heinz 57 Phoenix Stakes before disappointing in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster.
But, whereas the handicappers made Orpen the best with a rating of 119, Turform put Stravinsky on top, 3lb above Orpen and 9lb above Lavery. Turform reckon Lavery is 4lb below the mark given to him by the international handicappers.
Turform state: "Stravinsky's efforts represent a higher level of form than that achieved by Orpen.
"However all three colts are far from certain to stay the Guineas mile. "In the Dewhurst Stravinsky ran a similar race to the Salamandre, again travelling well and holding every chance inside the final furlong before weakening inside the last 100 yards.
"Connections maintain that Stravinsky will be aimed for the Guineas but on the evidence to-date there must be serious doubts over the colt's likely effectiveness over the trip."We feel that his turn of foot will be best employed over distances less than a mile."Turform express much the same reservations about Orpen and Lavery - "There is every likelihood that Orpen may struggle to get the Guineas mile and a slightly shorter trip may prove to be his optimum.
"Lavery's pedigree details point very much to him proving a sprinter although, if relaxing as well as he did in the Heinz, he could conceivably stretch his stamina to a mile."Meanwhile the Moyglare Stud Farm will have 70 horses in training with Dermot Weld this season.
These include 37 two-year-olds and 25 three-year-olds with the eight older horses headed by Two-Twenty-Two and Make No Mistake.
Weld said yesterday: "Two-Twenty-Two will start off in the Gladness Stakes at the Curragh on April 11 while the first major target for Make No Mistake is the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the same course on May 23."
Two-Twenty-Two needs soft ground and won three races early last season including the Tetrarch as well as the Coolmore Stud Home Of Champions Concorde Stakes in soft to heavy at Tipperary in October.
Make No Mistake, on the other hand, wants good ground or faster and he won the Group Two Royal Whip Stakes at the Curragh in August. Red Morocco, one of Willie Mullins' possibles for the Weatherbys Champion Bumper, has been ruled out of the Festival.
Mullins said: "Red Morocco has met with a setback and so will not make Cheltenham.
"I saw reports recently that he had been backed for the Cheltenham Bumper and I would like punters to know that he will not run." Red Morocco, sixth to Cardinal Hill and Biliverdin on his only start at Gowran Park 11 months ago, was a 20-1 chance with most Irish bookmakers.
Mullins has won the Champion Bumper in each of the last three years but he admits that time is running out for him to come up with a suitable candidate this time.Arthur Moore is planning another British raid at Ascot on Saturday when he will send Darbela for the William Hill Handicap Hurdle.
Conor O'Dwyer will ride the five-year-old who was partnered by Barry Cash when scoring by five and a half lengths in a handicap hurdle at the Leopardstown Christmas meeting.
Howard Johnson has confirmed Direct Route a runner in Saturday's Mitsubishi Shogun Ascot Chase, where the gelding will be ridden by Richard Dunwoody.
With Norman Williamson set to ride Venetia Williams's Teeton Mill, Johnson originally warned that his Tingle Creek Chase winner would not run at Ascot unless he could secure the services of Tony McCoy or Paul Carberry. However, the Crook trainer said yesterday: ''The horse is very well and will be travelling down to Sandown tomorrow.
''I wanted Carberry to ride but he has to ride for Noel Meade on Saturday.'' Johnson also warned that the Queen Mother Champion Chase, for which he is the 9-2 second favourite with William Hill, is Direct Route's chief objective.
''He will be doing his best but he will not be given a hard race with Cheltenham in mind,'' he added.
Nicky Henderson yesterday again angrily refuted rumours that all was not well with his Elite Triumph Hurdle hope Katarino.
Katarino has headed the market for some time for the four-year-old Championship test at the Cheltenham Festival but in recent days there have been suggestions that something might be amiss.
However Henderson speaking at Leicester said: ''The horse worked this morning and he is fine. ''Last night was unbelievable, I counted 26 calls about him, there is nothing wrong with the horse, ok."

Irish Sport part 2