!["She's the love of my life" ... Josh McCulloch. Picture Facebook "She's the love of my life" ... Josh McCulloch. Picture Facebook](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/6196f040-0fcc-4684-9c88-1c90f6ee305d.jpg/r0_0_1536_1568_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Josh McCulloch can't help but think about what might have been ...
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Had the red-hot Muay Thai prospect and his long-time partner, Tessi Walters, opted to go on a working holiday to Canada in October, he would not be in his current lofty position in the sport.
For it was the Tamworthian's convincing back-to-back wins over two Thais late last year - especially his brutal stoppage of the highly respected Orono Pumlumnow in Brisbane in December - that stamped him as a genuine rising star and put him in line for a WBC national title shot at lightweight.
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The 22-year-old said the national-title bout fizzled after his opponent pulled out and an eligible replacement could not be found.
Instead, McCulloch will battle Perth-based Thai Sippawit Hyihasan, who fights under the name Petsamrit, for the esteemed WBC Nai Khanom Tom Challenge lightweight belt (61kg) at the Sydney Portuguese Community Club on May 20. The belt is named after the ancient sport's founder.
McCulloch - unbeaten since 2016 - said Petsamrit had fought on big promotions in Thailand and, unlike a lot of his countrymen, he did not "sit back" but "comes forward and lets his hands go".
"It's definitely gonna be a firefight, and a bit of a chess match as well," McCulloch said.
![The boy has grown into the man before our eyes. Picture by Mark Bode The boy has grown into the man before our eyes. Picture by Mark Bode](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/5dd148af-056a-49d3-83ef-533747cb2b4b.jpg/r0_0_3463_2661_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
It's also a fight that would not have happened had McCulloch and Walters, 20, gone overseas.
"Our plan was to move to Canada for four to six months," the St George bank teller said. "But we thought we might put that on the back burner just in case. And lucky I did, because my career skyrocketed further than what I thought."
Read more: Tessi Walters to make boxing debut
"Everything happens for a reason, that's for sure," he added.
The same could be said about McCulloch's relationship with Walters. They have been together for four years, after hooking up when she texted him on his 18th birthday.
McCulloch said Walters was "the love of his life" and marriage was "definitely coming", but they were "not in a rush" to tie the knot.
We've been together since I was 18. We've just been ticking off our goals: we've now travelled together for the first time [the US]; we've got a house together.
"It's all lining up," he continued. "And we've pretty much accomplished all that we wanted to. And there's obviously only one more thing to do [get married]."
The "wait will be worth it", he said.
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