Gary Cully

Gary Cully (born 26 January 1996) is an Irish professional boxer who has held the Irish lightweight title since 2020. As an amateur he won a gold medal at the 2013 European Youth Championships and fought at the 2014 Youth World Championships.

Gary Cully
Statistics
Nickname(s)The Diva
Weight(s)
Height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Born (1996-01-26) 26 January 1996
Naas, Ireland
StanceSouthpaw
Boxing record[1]
Total fights17
Wins16
Wins by KO10
Losses1
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  Ireland
European Youth Championships
Gold medal – first place2013 RotterdamFlyweight

Amateur career

And then I think Rio didn’t help... and then seeing Mick [Conlan] being robbed as well... I’ve seen it in the [National] Stadium over the years, but when I saw how hard Michael trained for the Olympics, to go out and be robbed like that on the biggest stage – in front of the whole world, like – that was a big thing as well, yeah.

—Cully discussing his motivations for turning pro early[2]

Cully began boxing at the age of seven at St David's Boxing Club in Naas.[3] He won gold in the flyweight event of the 2013 European Youth Championships in Rotterdam, defeating Masud Yusifzada of Azerbaijan in the final and taking home the Best Boxer Award.[4][5] He then represented his country at the 2014 AIBA Youth World Championships in Sofia, making his debut in the bantamweight class.[3] He lost his first match by split decision to Ukrainian Voldymyr Fedora,[6] who would eventually fall to Peter McGrail in the quarter-finals.

He was also a six-time underage Irish national champion and won the 2016 Haringey Box Cup in London, being named Best Overall Boxer in the process.[2] Cully was defeated by future pro stablemate David Oliver Joyce in the quarter-finals of the 2016 Irish Elite Championships which ended any hopes of attempting to qualify for the Rio Olympics.[7]

Having had ambitions of qualifying for the 2020 Olympics, Cully would become disillusioned with amateur boxing after rule changes and controversies such as compatriot Michael Conlan's loss to Vladimir Nikitin at Rio 2016.[2]

Professional career

In the summer of 2017, Cully signed with MTK Global and turned professional, linking up with trainer Pete Taylor - father of Katie.[8] He made his debut on 16 September 2017, stopping Hungarian journeyman Gyula Tallosi inside a minute at the Devenish Complex in Belfast.[9] A busy start to his pro career saw Cully then fight twice at the SSE Arena in Belfast, scoring impressive wins over durable Englishmen Josh Thorne and Kane Baker.[10]

Following two more undercard wins in Belfast in the first half of 2018, Cully began to step up his level of opposition. First he would score a statement third-round stoppage over game Wearsider Jordan Ellison on 5 October 2018 at the Titanic Exhibition Centre before knocking out Tanzanian Mohammed Kambuluta (18–5, 7 KO) in the first round at the same venue on 7 December 2018 to improve to 7–0 as a pro.[11][12]

The lilywhite had an uneventful 2019, only fighting twice due to a knuckle gash and missing out on a clash with French champion Renald Garrido as a result.[13] After months of looking for a challenger for the Irish lightweight title,[14] he finally won the vacant national belt on 1 February 2020 when he faced unbeaten local prospect Joe Fitzpatrick (10–0, 7 KO) at the Ulster Hall in Belfast. Cully would stop the 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medalist by first-round TKO for his first title.[13][15]

Cully was expected to face Kieran Gething on 26 August 2020. Gething later withdrew from the bout, and was replaced by Craig Woodruff, who stepped in on 18-days notice.[16] Cully won the fight on points.[17] Six months later, on 13 March 2021, Cully faced Viktor Kotochigov for the vacant WBO European lightweight title.[18] He made quick work of the Kazakh, as he won the fight by a second-round technical knockout.[19] Cully faced Viorel Simion on 25 June 2021, in his second and final fight of the year.[20] Simion retired from the bout at the end of the third round.[21]

Professional boxing record
17 fights 16 wins 1 loss
By knockout 10 1
By decision 6 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
17 Loss 16–1 José Félix Jr. TKO 3 (10), 2:34 20 May 2023 3Arena, Dublin, Ireland
16 Win 16–0 Wilfredo Flores TKO 3 (10), 1:52 18 Feb 2023 Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England Won vacant WBA Inter-Continental lightweight title
15 Win 15–0 Jaouad Belmehdi TKO 1 (10), 0:35 29 Oct 2022 Wembley Arena, London, England
14 Win 14–0 Miguel Vázquez KO 5 (10), 0:41 12 Mar 2022 Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England
13 Win 13–0 Viorel Simion RTD 3 (10), 3:00 25 Jun 2021 Bolton Whites Hotel, Bolton, England
12 Win 12–0 Viktor Kotochigov TKO 2 (10), 2:57 13 Mar 2021 Round 10 Boxing Club, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Won vacant WBO European lightweight title
11 Win 11–0 Craig Woodruff PTS 8 26 Aug 2020 Production Park Studios, South Kirkby, England
10 Win 10–0 Joe Fitzpatrick TKO 1 (10), 1:38 1 Feb 2020 Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland Won vacant Irish lightweight title
9 Win 9–0 Danny Mendoza PTS 6 11 Oct 2019 Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland
9 Win 8–0 Brayan Mairena PTS 6 29 Mar 2019 Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland
7 Win 7–0 Mohammed Kambuluta KO 1 (8), 0:06 7 Dec 2018 Titanic Exhibition Centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland
6 Win 6–0 Jordan Ellison TKO 3 (6), 0:57 5 Oct 2018 Titanic Exhibition Centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland
5 Win 5–0 Reynaldo Cajina PTS 4 30 Jun 2018 SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland
4 Win 4–0 Pal Olah PTS 4 10 Feb 2018 Devenish Complex, Belfast, Northern Ireland
3 Win 3–0 Kane Baker PTS 4 18 Nov 2017 SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland
2 Win 2–0 Josh Thorne TKO 3 (4), 0:30 21 Oct 2017 SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland
1 Win 1–0 Gyula Tallosi TKO 1 (4), 0:42 16 Sep 2017 Devenish Complex, Belfast, Northern Ireland

References
  1. "Boxing record for Gary Cully". BoxRec.
  2. Casey, Gavan (22 January 2018). "'Croc', 'The Silencer', and 'The Naas Tommy Hearns': Irish pro boxing's future is in concrete hands". The42. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  3. "Irish Youth ready to delight Sofia". AIBA. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  4. "Gary Cully triumphs at European Youth Championships in the Netherlands". RTÉ. 18 August 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  5. "Rotterdam's ten heroes – EYBC 2013 From AIBA Point of View". eubcboxing.org. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  6. O’Neill, Bernard (16 April 2014). "Irish coach blasts ref as Cully loses out". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  7. "Irish National Championships results". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  8. Bradley, Cain (18 July 2017). "Gary Cully turns Pro". boxing.com. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  9. O'Neill, Joe (18 September 2017). ""I'm the hardest-hitting lightweight out there" – Gary Cully promising power following debut KO". irish-boxing.com. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  10. O'Neill, Joe (21 October 2017). "Gary Cully opens big Belfast show in style". irish-boxing.com. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  11. McManus, Oliver (9 December 2018). "Gary Cully Impresses in Belfast as Conrad Cummings Claims European Glory". Boxing Insider. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  12. "Gary Cully says strength is improving all the time". worldboxingnews.net. 28 March 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  13. O'Neill, Joe (1 February 2020). "Gary Cully destroys Joe Fitzpatrick inside ONE ROUND to win Irish Lightweight Title". irish-boxing.com. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  14. "Gary Cully wants European title and claims all Irish lightweights are running scared". British Boxing News. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  15. Fullerton, Gareth (1 February 2020). "Gary Cully stops Joe Fitzpatrick in first round of Irish title clash". Belfast Live. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  16. Kirwan, Chris (8 August 2020). "Craig Woodruff steps in late to face Irish hope Gary Cully". southwalesargus.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  17. Powell, Dewi. "Craig Woodruff comes close against clever Gary Cully who wins on points". boxing-wales.com. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  18. "Gary Cully Faces Viktor Kotochigov For WBO European Title This Friday". boxen247.com. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  19. "Boxing Results: Lewis Crocker And Gary Cully Shine In Title Fights". boxingnews24.com. 13 March 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  20. "Undefeated Irish sensation Gary Cully steps up against former WBC International champion Viorel Simion next". britishboxingnews.co.uk. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  21. O'Neill, Joe (25 June 2021). "Class Cully CRUSHES Viorel Simion in three rounds". irish-boxing.com. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
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