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Cruise Control – Gary Cully Stops Former World Champ in ‘Third Gear’

Gary Cully revealed his statement knockout of Miguel Vazquez was achieved in cruise control.

The lightweight says he didn’t get out of third gear when registering a win that saw him transition from prospect to a fringe contender – and considering he believes, that like some of the more expensive cars, he isn’t limited to five gears, he suggests there is a lot more to come.

The Pete Taylor trained Naas talent admits his foot pushed harder on the pedal than ever before against the former world champion on the undercard of Michael Conlan and Leigh Woods epic battle on Saturday.

However, he remains adamant he didn’t have to overwork the gear shift or consult anywhere near top speed in Nottingham.

“I said it in the build-up to this one that you haven’t seen me go through the gears yet. Possibly there you saw me go through them a little bit more and you saw me using my brain a little bit more because he was awkward at the start,” he begins when reflecting on the fifth round stoppage win while talking to Irish-boxing.com.

“I had to get distance, I had to get timing instead of just landing shots off the cuff straight away.

“That was probably third gear there when I stopped him,” he adds before declaring he has a toolbox any tradesman would envy.

“I’ve got a lot more in my arsenal to show, a lot more in my toolbox. If somebody comes to box, I’ll out-box them, if they come to fight I’ll fight them. I believe I can do it all.”

Cully became the first-ever lightweight to stop the Mexican with a storied career. He walked Vazquez, whose twice gone the distance with Canelo Alvarez, onto a beautiful shot in the third before ending proceedings with a southpaw one-two in the fifth.

The Son of Sarto admitted after he expected to get an inside-the-distance victory but didn’t believe it would come before the halfway stage, or in the manner it did.

“I did expect to get him out of there, but the timing was a bit earlier. I wasn’t sure if he’d go down with headshots. I thought I might have to work the body a little bit more, push the pace going through the rounds,” he adds before discussing the game plan.

“After five the plan was to start turning the screw but after the fourth round I said to Pete ‘he’s going downhill’ and he said start turning the screw then. In the fifth round, the shot came and [it was] night night.”

“The plan was to be patient because it’s a 10 round fight and obviously it was very possible that Miguel Vazquez could have brought me 10 rounds. He’s so experienced, he’s been around the world, been in with all these [guys like] Canelo and Josh Taylor.

“So the plan was to be patient early on, don’t get greedy, if you land a good shot don’t jump on him and try and finish it. Show a bit of maturity, show a bit of patience and that’s what I think that was, a very mature performance in there.”

Nottingham, UK: Gary Cully vs Miguel Vasquez, Lightweight Contest. 12 March 2022 Picture By Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing Gary Cully

Emphasizing how he showed that patience, he adds:” I hurt him a couple more times, his legs went then I kinda just stood off and said let the knockout come,” before bringing back the gear talk.

“I went into second gear in the second round after I got my distance and I was in third gear when the knockout came in the fifth. There’s still 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 gears there.”

Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

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