‘Oh no he won’t’ – Cully doesn’t believe Cinderella man Hughes will let him play panto villain
Gary Cully [13(7)-0] doesn’t believe he’ll get the chance to play the panto villain and ruin the Cinderella story.
The unique lightweight prospect has been linked with Maxi Hughes [24(5)-5(2)-2] for over 12 months and has expressed his desire to share a ring with boxing’s latest Cinderella man.
The ambitious 25-year-old has identified Hughes as the kind of fighter who could help raise his profile, ranking and world title chances.
The Sarto fighter is confident he has what it takes to compete with some of the biggest names in a division that is home to the likes of Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia, Vasily Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr – but the Irish champion is all too aware he has to prove his world level worth as well as create interest in a fight between himself and any of the aforementioned.
The Pete Taylor trained Kildare man believes ‘Maximus’ provides him with the chance to close that gap – and if he gets past Artjoms Ramlavs [14(8)-1(0)] in York Hall on February 11 is the type of name he wants. Although he isn’t sure it’s a fight he will get.
“That’s not an easy fight to make,” he told IFL TV.
“If it was easy it would have been made by now. I’d take that fight all day long but it’s a dangerous fight for Maxi,” he adds before suggesting he is high risk but not massive reward for a fighter who holds a win over Jono Carroll.
“He’s done the hard work, had three big wins during lockdown, and then had his big fight with Straffon and beat Straffon for the IBO. It would be a big risk for him to take on me. I’m coming through the ranks but I think he wants someone who is already up there. I was a fan of him and a fan of what he has done. You have to respect him, he’s changed his life. I wanted to end the Cinderella story and get my name to where his is at,” he continues before three-weight world champion Ricky Burns was mentioned.
“They’re the fights I want, these kinds of names, Ricky Burns is a bigger name than Maxi Hughes, both big names in Britain, both fights I’d love.”
Cully, who has four-fight 2022 plans, first has to defeat Ramlavs early next year.
Date confirmed for Gary Cully. https://t.co/c0NEVmvioL
— Irish-Boxing.com (@Irishboxingcom) December 21, 2021
Speaking on his early February opponent he said: “From what I know of him he is technically sound, a well-rounded fighter. He fought Josh Taylor and Joe Cordina in the amateurs. He seems to be a bit of a star in Lativa he came over then and fought Archie Sharp. I think Archie had an off night and still got the points win. He’s not fighting Archie Sharp this time around. I’ve got a point to prove. I’m looking to get in the mix in the lightweight division next year.”
