By Ian S Palmer
Mark Heffron puts his British Super Middleweight Title on the line this Saturday, September 2nd when he takes on Jack Cullen in Manchester, England. Cullen, who hails from Bolton, England last fought in March when he was stopped by Diego Pacheco in the fourth round for the vacant WBO International Super Middleweight Title. Heffron of Oldham last boxed in September, 2022 when he stopped Martin Bulacio in just 73 seconds. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the UK and Ireland on Sky Sports Box Office on the undercard of the Liam Smith vs Chris Eubank Jr rematch while fans in America can catch it on ESPN+.
The 29-year-old Cullen is pretty tall for the 168-lb division as he’s 6-feet-3-inches with an unlisted reach. He makes the ring walk with a record of 21-4-1 with 9 Ko’s and has boxed 133 rounds since making his pro debut in 2016 following his amateur career. Cullen has little in the way of power as his current knockout ratio stands at just 42.9 per cent in his victories and he’s gone six fights without a stoppage as he last KO came in March, 2020 when he halted Thomas Reynoso in the second round.
On the other side of the coin, Cullen has been stopped in all four four of his losses as Roy Sheahan halted him in the first round in 2018, Felix Cash took care of him in eight rounds in 2019 in a shot at the Commonwealth Middleweight Title and Kevin Lele Sadjo halted him in six rounds in 2021 in a shot at the vacant European Super Middleweight Belt. He was then stopped by Pacheco in his last outing. Cullen’s lone draw was a 10-round affair with Zak Chelli in 2020.
In July, 2021 Cullen captured the vacant IBF Super Middleweight Crown with a 10-round unanimous decision over Avni Yildirim and he toppled Jack Sellars in 2019 for the vacant British Middleweight Title. Twelve of Cullen’s 26 opponents entered the ring with losing records and he’s never fought outside of the British Isles as a pro.
Heffron is 31 years old and carries around a mark of 29-2-1 with 23 Ko’s and has 116 rounds of pro experience under his belt since making his debut in 2010. As an amateur he captured a silver medal at the European Youth Championships in 2009. He obviously carries quite a bit of power in his attack as his current knockout ratio clocks in at an impressive 79.3 per cent and his last six wins have come by stoppage.
He suffered his first loss at the hands of Liam Williams in 2018 when he was stopped in the 10th round in a shot at the vacant British Middleweight Title. He was also halted in his second defeat when he couldn’t continue after four rounds against Denzel Bentley due to a closed left eye in November, 2020 in another attempt at the vacant British Middleweight Belt. Heffron had fought Bentley in his previous bout two months earlier and the two battled to a 10-round draw with Heffron being dropped in the second round.
As far as size goes, Heffron measures 5-feet-11-inches tall with a 72-inch reach and gives up four inches in height to Cullen. Fourteen of his 32 opponents had losing records but he won the vacant WBC International Middleweight Title in 2018 when he stopped Andrew Robinson in the sixth round. He won the British, Commonwealth and vacant IBF Inter-Continental Super Middleweight Belts in July, 2022 when he stopped Lennox Clarke in the fifth round.
Prediction…
Cullen has a good size advantage but he lacks power and has been stopped in all four of his defeats. In fact, Heffron has been stopped in both of his losses too, so this fight could very well end before it reaches the 12-round distance. They both have pretty good boxing skills but Cullen just doesn’t really have enough pop in his punches to keep Heffron at bay. I’m going with Heffron to retain his title here.
