As an amateur, he won bronze at the 2010 European Championships[1] and represented Northern Ireland at the 2010 Commonwealth Games where he reached the quarter-finals.

[4] An outspoken Irish nationalist, he has stated numerous times that he will not box for the British title despite being in a position to do so.

A runner-up at National level twice more, as well as spending time in Kazakhstan as part of the Astana Arlans World Series of Boxing team.

[8] Following 10 wins, and a move down in weight to super-bantamweight, he secured a shot at the Celtic title versus Scottish champ Joe Ham.

[11] McCullagh returned to featherweight in his next fight to enter The Golden Contract competition and he would win his quarter-final bout on 4 October 2019 at the York Hall, London, versus late replacement Razaq Najib.