Katie Taylor and Conor McGregor inspire unbeaten Irish lightweight Gary Cully for bigtime 2023
Gary Cully has his sights set on Devin Haney and Roger Bannister as the unbeaten Irish lightweight looks to start a big 2023 in Nottingham this weekend.
Haney is the undisputed ruler of a talented 135lb division in which his controversial May 20 showdown with Ukrainian champion Vasiliy Lomachenko will continue to set the standard.
Trying to take on the best fighters in his division is an obvious motivation for Cully (15-0, 9 KOs), who competed in a 10-round match against the similarly undefeated Wilfredo Flores on the undercard of Leigh Wood’s WBA title shot Lara competes in the featherweight division with the feared Mexican Mauricio on Saturday.
But what about Bannister, the track and field icon who became the first person in history to record a four-minute mile? Well, that’s exactly it for Cully, whose running talent means he takes genuine pleasure in what many fighters consider to be the most arduous aspect of training camp.
“I started racing the 5K almost 10 years ago. It’s something I enjoy, it’s a challenge I like,” Cully told Sporting News.
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“I walked a few three-minute kilometers in the camp. The goal is to reach a four-minute mile in the next few months. I’m not there yet, I’ve been at 4:20s for a while, so getting that bridge from 4:20 to 4 is a lot of work.
“It will probably take me outside of camp because obviously all the focus is on the boxing and on the fighting now. When I have a little break, I hop back on the treadmill and hit the four minute mark.”
Cully was even approached by a scout from Clonliffe Harriers, a Dublin-based athletics club, when his prowess on the track was noticed during a session with the Irish Boxing Association’s High Performance Unit. Ultimately, for the 27-year-old Naas Aborigine, who is a boxer through and through, running was just a means to an end.
“I’d do the boxer thing and tuck in the sweatpants and go running,” he said, recalling a time when that fashion choice gave him like a sore thumb.
“I remember going to the Leinster Championships with my school a year and everyone showing up in their skintight shorts and skintight vests and I showing up with my tracksuit in my socks. I actually qualified and finished top 20 at the Leinster Championships.”
The obvious difference with Cully the runner is that Cully the boxer gets the job done And look at the part.
A 6ft 2in southpaw who can hit isn’t an opponent’s idea of a good time. He goes into the Flores clash with five stoppages in his last six games, including explosive first-round wins over Joe Fitzpatrick and Jaouad Belmehdi.
Promoter Eddie Hearn has spoken of big plans for Cully in 2023 and a high-profile undercard finish from Katie Taylor’s Dublin homecoming against Amanda Serrano in May will be next on the agenda if he comes through at Motorpoint Arena. Like Taylor, Cully would be making his pro debut in his home country.
“I’ve fought in Belfast but I haven’t fought as a professional in Dublin or my home country. It looks like it might be close, so that would be a dream come true for me,” he said.
“If it happens, I want to be involved in a massive fight. It will be historic for Ireland, historic for Katie and hopefully for myself too.”
Cully is a huge admirer of Taylor, and his ties to the pound-for-pound superstar run much deeper than a penciled undercard slot. He trained with Taylor when they were both in Ireland’s elite amateur program and since turning pro Cully has been coached by her father Peter Taylor.
“I think he’s a master boxer,” he said of Taylor Sr. “There’s not a lot he doesn’t know, but he’s always willing to learn. He is constantly educating himself and is always looking for more knowledge.
“Sometimes I come to the gym and he translates books written in Russian into English to get new tactics or new exercises. That’s why he’s always striving to improve his game and expand his knowledge.
“Obviously Katie has worked with Ross Enamait since she turned pro, but she’s based her style on what Pete taught her back then.
“To see some of the things he’s teaching me now that she’s still doing just as well is great. It’s a good motivator for me to know that what Pete is showing me is working because I can see Katie is doing it.”
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Taylor has flown the flag of Irish boxing in recent years, while Conor McGregor’s exploits in the UFC have added a bombastic chapter to the country’s proud martial arts history.
Cully wants to be the man to pick up that baton, and if all goes according to plan this year, he wants big nights out in the States in 2024 to chase big prizes.
“Katie brought a few thousand to Madison Square Garden [for her first fight with Amanda Serrano last May] and we’ve seen Conor do it in the UFC and in the MMA game,” he added.
“So I think I’m the next man, I suppose, and Katie may be nearing the end of her career. If Katie decides to hang her, my goal is for her to pass the torch to me.
“Then I’ll be the one who takes Irish boxing to the next level and takes fans to the US and has some big nights there too.”
As he nears the prime of his boxing career, there’s no doubt that Cully is a man in a hurry. He might even find time to squeeze in a four-minute mile.