Craig Callaghan heads to Houston
In a division like the welterweight class dominated by the likes of Floyd "Money" Mayweather, UK boxing star "Cracking" Craig Callaghan may not be familiar to U.S. fans yet.
But at 5-0, the undefeated star is set to make his mark among boxing's best.
Despite losing three of his first 10 amateur fights, Callaghan still had ambitions of turning pro. And eventually winning an astonishing 87 of 94 amateur bouts put him in the position to do just that.
Turn pro! "I was training one day and the owner of the gym asked me to spar with a guy called Frank Laporto, who was boxing for a world title against Austin trout. I sparred frank for a week or 2. I must have impressed the trainer as after the sparring was finished, he asked me if I was interested in turning pro as he was interested in training me. It is a risky thing to do turning professional away from home. But I had a good amateur career where I gained a lot of experience, so I was always confident in my ability to succeed where ever I turned pro" says Callaghan. “I came to America when I was 22 with the intention to turn professional then; unfortunately I was unable to secure a visa to stay and box there. But my manager (Jay Johns) said he'll bring me back. And with a lot of hard work, and true to his word, my promotional company (Standing 8 promotions) and Jay have managed to get me a four year sports visa, so I can stay and box in the states.”
Callaghan found a home in Houston and is convinced that he’s in the place to pursue his dream of becoming a world champion. He is set to fight Thursday July 24th at 7:30pm at the Bayou City Event Center 9401 Knight Road, Houston, TX 77045. He spent the morning with the FOX 26 camera's talking about life as a fighter.