Rejuvenated and Refocused: Gary Cully Promises Redemption KO Ahead of 3Arena Return
After nearly 15 months out of the ring, Kildare’s Gary Cully makes his long-awaited return on March 14th in the 3Arena, featuring on the Jazza Dickens v Anthony Cacace undercard.
The Naas native promises a stylish return, vowing to deliver a knockout and a trademark ‘Diva’ performance, as he looks to reignite his career and get back to winning ways.
“Everything’s a fresh start really… just getting back to what I used to do best, back to knocking people out, back to slick performances,” Cully told Irish-Boxing.com.
The bout will be Cully’s first since his unanimous decision defeat to Maxi Hughes back in December of 2024, and marks the longest spell out of the ring he’s endured since first pulling on a pair of gloves at seven years old.
He told Irish-Boxing.com that the time away from the ring wasn’t just a case of stepping back, as persistent issues with his eyes warranted surgery, ruling the 29-year-old out of sparring at the end of last year.
“By the time I got it done, it ended up being October… I couldn’t take impact for 6-8 weeks, and I kind of just accepted that I wasn’t going to fight in 2025… I could hit pads and hit bags, I couldn’t really do much else” Cully explained.
For “The Diva”, the upcoming fight is more than just to a return to the ring, after the longest layoff of his career, the Naas man admits the night is about putting things right.
“I need to go up and redeem myself and put in a good performance” he said.
Reflecting on his stoppage loss to Jose Felix Jr on his 3Arena debut in 2023, Cully admitted that it left a lasting mark, a night he described as the lowest point of his career, and a catalyst for his sense of redemption.
“I feel like I haven’t really performed since the Felix fight… he beat me, and that loss took a lot of confidence out of me… since the fight, I wasn’t really performing or enjoying what I’ve been doing, it took a good while to get over it” he said.
For the first time in his life, the ‘grá’ for the sport that had shaped him no longer brought comfort, with wavering confidence, doubt crept in, and the idea of walking away from the dream he had chased since childhood became real.
“It did come into my head a couple of times over the past 3 years… I’ve not been enjoying it for a couple of reasons… I was kind of thinking ‘this isn’t going how I want it to go’ and I was thinking of walking away” he admitted.
With fresh goals, renewed motivation and resilience since questioning his dream, the Kildare man says he feels sharper and ready to rebuild, pointing to former opponent Maxi Hughes with the utmost respect regarding his ability to bounce back from setbacks.
“I think now to be 29 years of age, and to be hitting my physical prime with the experience I’ve gained over the years, I’d be silly to walk away now… look at Maxi Hughes, he’s come back numerous times, looking at his career and taking lessons from that” he said.
With a new perspective and a shifted mindset, Cully says the pressures that once weighed heavily have eased. The need to perform and to chase validation has been erased along with the mental shackles of the last three years, allowing him to approach his return with clarity.
“I’m just enjoying boxing again… I can’t wait to get back, I can’t wait to fight. Before there was pressure on performances, but now I’m just doing it because I love to do it” he said.
Unburdened, free of expectation and driven by enjoyment, it’s clear the Naas man feels he won’t just return chasing redemption, he’ll do so reinvigorated and intent on unleashing a performance that reflects both the lessons learned and the love that brought him back.
