BOXING/WBO Featherweight Title Fight: As a contest it may have been over before it began. We'd been beguiled by the pedigree of one of Ireland's greatest boxers but at 32, Wayne McCullough will now have to ask questions about the continuance of his career, at least in this weight division.

After 12 rounds of punishing and at times frightening exchanges between McCullough and 25-year-old WBO featherweight champion Scott Harrison, the Irishman was taken to hospital from the Braehead Arena in Glasgow following his post-fight press conference.

With his left ear hideously swollen and his eyes puffed and bruised, McCullough was ushered out of the complex by paramedics after he complained of feeling dizzy. The boxer was then taken to Glasgow's Southern General for a series of tests.

He was later released and a hospital spokesman confirmed the boxer had been suffering from dehydration. The official also said that McCullough had not been detained in a neurological unit but could not say if he had lost consciousness.

It was a desperately sad sight watching the one-time WBC bantamweight champion and Olympic silver medallist shuffle from the conference with a bag of ice pressed to one side of his head and guided to the ambulance. Covered in his oversized black ring gown with Pocket Rocket embroidered onto the back, McCullough's wounded departure brought to an end a particularly heroic night but one that must encourage some serious reflection.

The precautionary measure also raised the issue of his failed brain scan in October 2000.

Prior to a bout in Belfast, the British Boxing Board of Control suspended his licence because of what they believed was a cyst near his brain. But following extensive tests with top neurosurgeons in Britain, Ireland and the US, McCullough was allowed to box again last year.

While his three fights previous to this one were won in stylish fashion, in Harrison, McCullough met a grim, purposeful opponent, whose upper body physique belied the fact that he easily came in under the nine-stone limit.

Entering the ring, stripped and ready to fight, the Glaswegian set about his lighter opponent with shocking precision and superior strength.

For Harrison the opening rounds were brilliant, for McCullough they were disturbing. The challenger's famous high turnover of punches were not seen as the expressionless Harrison nailed him with straight left jabs. What did land from McCullough were too light and infrequent to hurt the stronger man.

McCullough's ear was damaged in those opening exchanges, while his renowned chin was also asked to take punishment, while nothing he could offer challenged the champion's relentless rhythm.

He produced a joke shuffle in the first after a particularly stinging combination, but from there on it was the best McCullough could do not to buckle under Harrison's power and aggression.

Even long before the bout had come to the 12th round, there were calls for it to be ended. And as McCullough clung desperately to stay on his feet, relying on stubborn survival instincts to see him through the rounds, particularly a jarring and uncomfortable eighth, Harrison grimly continued his dominance.

"Stop the f***ing fight. Stop the f***ing fight," screamed fans at referee John Coyle from just behind the press area. Even promoter Frank Warren pleaded with a member of McCullough's team for him to go over and call a halt to the bout as their fighter was clearly unable to contest the fight in the closing rounds.

The hardened attitude of McCullough's corner was subsequently called into question by Harrison's manager, Frank Maloney.

"That (fight) was an accident waiting to happen. Thankfully it went to the 12th," said Maloney. "If I was in that corner the fight would have been stopped. Did you see his (McCullough's) ear? Did you see it? It was twice the size of his head. There was no compassion in that corner at all."

McCullough, who had given as much as he took against world champions Erik Morales and Naseem Hamed, joked throughout the press conference in order to put on a brave face after such an onslaught.

"He beat me easiest of all the world champions. He hurt me the most. I thought Morales was strong but this kid really shocked me. He's super, super strong. I'd rather be stopped when I'm on the canvas, not when I'm on my feet," said McCullough, who has never been stopped in a 10-year career.

"Now it's back to Las Vegas, back to the sunshine to take a rest. I just gotta sit back and look at things."

In the end the three judges scored the fight 120-108, 119-109, 119-108 for an impressive Harrison. It reflected a one-sided bout.

What it failed to show was McCullough's reckless bravery and his pain.