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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Vincent Whelan

Who is Gary Cully? Lightweight trained by Pete Taylor who's fighting on Katie Taylor's undercard

A couple of hours before Katie Taylor makes the walk to face Karen Carabajal, Ireland's next great lightweight will be in action.

That's the view of Pete Taylor at least, who will be cornering Gary Cully from Kildare in his bout against Frenchman Jaouad Belmehdi.

Sharing a beaming photo of the three of them at the weigh-in, Pete wrote: "Proud to have played a role with the two greatest lightweights Ireland has ever produced."

READ MORE: Katie Taylor back to familiar London settings as all roads lead to Croke Park in 2023

So just who is Gary Cully?

The 26-year-old is the current Irish lightweight champion having won the belt while it was vacant after a first round TKO of Joe Fitzpatrick.

He has compiled a record of 14-0 since turning pro in 2017, with only six of those bouts going the distance.

As an amateur he showcased plenty of pedigree as he won a gold medal at the 2013 European Youth Championships.

At 6'2" he is tall and rangy for the weight class.

He spoke to Mirror Sport earlier this week about his ambitions in and beyond this latest bout as he prepares to fight under the Matchroom banner for the first time.

He said: "I believe I put on a big performance back in March beating a former world champion, Miguel Vazquez, and I want to move forward towards world titles in 2023 so this is the right step in doing so.

"He's a 16-0 opponent, but I believe that these are the types of fights that I need and that I show up for so these are the fights that I want. I'm excited to put in a big performance."

On the possibility of fighting again as part of a KT card at Croke Park next year, he added: "It's been a vision of mine ever since I was a kid so to be able to actually see that as a possibility now is massive and like I said Katie has been leading the charge for over the past ten years.

"To share a card with her in Ireland would be history for Ireland. It would be special.

"I believe that it's a possibility now and it looks like it can happen so hopefully the Irish get behind us and we can fill Croke Park next year."

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