Maxi Hughes unsure about ‘bizarre’ Gary Cully offer

Maxi Hughes[26(5)-5(2)-1] has revealed he has received an offer to fight Gary Cully [ 15(9)-0]but isn’t sure whether or not he should take it.

The IBO world lightweight title holder has been linked with the rising Kildare star over the last six months and it appears Matchroom have looked at making the fight for the Taylor Serrano 2 card, set for Dublin and May 20.

However, the Sean O’Hagan trained fighter, who sparked a career revival with a surprise win over Jono Carroll in the summer of 2020, is unsure whether to accept it or not.

The 32-year-old claims Eddie Hearn, who promotes both, previously told him a ‘bigger’ fight awaits and as a result is bemused by the offer.

“We’ve had an offer to fight Cully,” said Hughes when speaking to IFL TV.

“My first thought was ‘Why?’ because Eddie told me ‘I like that fight but I know you’re past that Maxi and I want to get you a bigger fight.’ So why send me the offer? It’s bizarre,” he adds before claiming he can’t get clarification.

“I personally can’t get hold of Eddie to speak to him myself. It has to be through my manager and through Ross from Matchrom and for me it’s frustrating. I’ve a good ranking, I’m not getting any younger and I want to kick on, challenge myself and test myself.”

Interestingly enough Cully, who fights on a Matchroom card this coming Saturday, has been looking for more established names than Hughes for his Dublin debut with Jorge Linares top of his hit list.

However, Hughes would represent a step up and a big fight.