In conversation with...Gary Cully

Gary Cully, the man known at “The Diva” or “The Sarto Diva”, is back and looking to prove himself again. After surprisingly losing to Jose Felix on the Katie Taylor V Chantelle Cameron card in the 3Arena in May 2023, Cully followed up with two less than convincing wins against Reece Mould and Francesco Patera before losing to Maxi Hughes in December 2024.

After a fifteen-month absence Gary returns to the 3Arena this Saturday night to take on Mexican, Benito Sanchez Garcia. This week he sat down with the Kildare Nationalist and talked about the past and more importantly about the future.

Pat Costello: Why did you decide to step away from the ring for a while, Gary?

Gary Cully: Well Pat, I fought in December 2024 against Maxi Hughes in Monte Carlo and lost that fight. Probably put in the worst performance of my whole career. I just fell out of love with the sport for a couple of months. I wasn't enjoying camps from the Felix defeat back in May 2023. I wasn't enjoying the craft and I probably struggled with a little bit of self-belief and confidence. I had a fight against Reece Mould, which I won that on a split decision. 

It wasn't a great performance again but I got the win and then I got the win against Patera for a WBA Continental in Leeds. Even then in camps I wasn't really feeling my best or feeling full flow or feeling fully confident. I fell out of love with boxing for a bit and struggled with issues for a bit. I took a while off to reignite that spark and to start enjoying it again.

PC: What motivated you to come back then?

GC: I think a number of things. Turning 30 in January was one thing. Boxing is obviously a short career and I've been a pro for almost 10 years now. It happens overnight where you feel like you've not got long. I've only got a couple of years left in boxing and then I'll be looking back on my career for the rest of my life, telling my kids and my grandkids about it. 

So, it's something that I want to look back on with pride and with something that I gave 100% to. I've obviously a baby now as well, who I've got to provide for. Boxing is all I've ever done; boxing is all I know and it's all I've ever planned to do. I've got five years to provide a life for him and for his Mam and for us as a family. I want to tell him to follow his dreams and to do what he wants to do in life. 

I was a five-year-old kid with a dream and I'm still living in the middle of it right now and I'm very, very grateful for it. I think if I'm to tell him to believe in himself and follow his dreams he can do whatever he wants if he works hard enough. I had a bit of adversity and if I didn't follow through on mine then I'd be a bit of hypocrite. I just wanted to stick true to my word to myself when I was a five-year-old kid and follow my dreams through. I have a lot left to give, I'm still pretty fresh. Other than my last fight really, I haven't taken much damage in my career so I'm pretty fresh for a 30-year-old. I don't think I've reached near my full potential. 

I've had a great career so far. I've won numerous titles. I fought in Dublin, twice in my hometown, third time coming up now. I have a lot more titles left to win, a lot more money to earn, and a lot more memories to make in boxing. These five years feel like a bonus and it feels like there's a monkey off my back and pressure off my back. I'm just doing it now because it's what I love to do, it's a passion again; it wasn't a passion for a while; it became a bit of a chore and a bit of a job. Now I'm back enjoying it again.

PC: When you look back at that Felix fight, obviously it shocked the boxing world. Did it shock you and how do you deal with it now at this stage; are there things you could have done differently?

GC: Yeah, I think so and I think also just being aware that losses and failures and all these things happen in life and that's the road to success, really. You see every success story is always met with a failure beforehand. I thought that I was going to turn pro, win 30 fights, become World Champion, retire with a couple of million in the bank and it was just going to be happy ever after.

I wasn't going to meet any adversity or any setbacks or any failures. Obviously, that's fairytale stuff. When I was met with that initial setback or failure, I struggled to deal with it because I've had so much belief in myself over the last 20 years and so much confidence. I’d been performing at such a high level in the gym as well. So, when I was met with that failure, I struggled to deal with it and struggled to get over it for a long time. 

Even in the camp for the Reece Mould fight when I moved over to Liverpool to get away and get a camp done and get a win under the belt again. I came home and did the Patera camp as well but I never really reached what I'd reached before the Felix fight. I was sparring at such a high level then against world level operators, welterweights, middleweights, getting hit by these guys and being able to take a shot on the chin. Then when that one happened on that stage, on that platform it was just a big, big shock to the system. 

Thankfully, now I'm on the other side of. I’m feeling confident again and I'm looking forward to just getting back to doing what I love.

PC: Felix has been banned for alleged substance use since then. Does that annoy you?

GC: Yeah, I think at the time it did but it gives you an answer too. I was sparring middleweights and getting hit hard in the gym and I was going was everything I was doing wrong? You question everything you were doing, Do I have a chin, blah, blah, blah, so it gives you an answer as to why. Of course, it's annoying but boxing is sick and boxing is rotten to the core. 

Michael Conlan said it back in the Olympics but he was referring to amateur boxing but it's just boxing through and through. That's what it is, it's corrupt and there's a lot of politics involved. Where you get competition and where you get males competing against each other, I think you'll always get cheating and you'll always get steroid abuse. So yeah, I have my opinions on that, of course, but look, I'm not going to cry over spilled milk. That is what it is. I'm rebuilding again.

PC: Do you think you maybe came back too quickly after that Felix fight? Were you ready physically and mentally for the Hughes fight?

GC: Physically, I'm always ready because I've been training since I was six years old. I'm really, really fit; really, really strong. Even on my year out there where I had to get surgery on an injury I was always in the gym. Mentally, probably not ready but boxing is something I've always done. It's how I provide a life for my family and my son and my fiancé now as well. Yeah, I probably maybe should have taken the break that I took just gone after the Felix defeat. 

I come up from nothing. I come from humble beginnings. Then you're signed to a contract for X, Y and Z amounts and you're earning good money and you're on these platforms. My contract had a comeback fight in it and I was back to earning decent money again. It's how I put food on the table so, I couldn't just take six or eight or twelve months out of ring, which I could obviously afford to do in the last 12 months, because it had those two fights and earned that money.

I wanted to get back to it too, of course I did. I don't like to lose; I don't like to be in the loser's column so I wanted be a winner again, which I did. But even winning those fights, yeah, I was back in the winner's column but I wasn’t happy with the performances. I'm looking forward now, after these 15 months, to trying to get in and put in some performances that I can really put my name to and really be proud of.

PC: You may not have been boxing during those 15 months but you kept yourself busy because you became engaged to Danielle, you became a father to Sonny and you set up your own businesses as well.

GC: Yeah, two businesses up and running in next door in Niall’s (Barrett) gym. Diva Coffee Co has been flying in the last two years. We're in our third year now. We have Escape Reformer Pilates as well just upstairs. Sonny's running around, nine months already. Danielle and I went on holidays the week after I fought Patera and that's when we got engaged. 

So, I've been busy outside the ring, all in good ways, all in positive ways; setting up my life for after boxing. I still have an awful lot to give in boxing and in the ring and have a lot more goals and a lot more dreams to achieve before I hang them up for good.

PC: You’re back in the ring now on this Saturday in 3Arena. What do you know about this Mexican, Benito Sanchez Garcia?

GC: Yeah, he's decent. He has seventeen wins, beaten on points last month. He knows his way around the ring. Let's just say that he comes here to win. He's been fighting up at 140/147 for a while so he's going to be strong, he's going to be game. He's probably going to see me coming back off a long layoff and off a loss and maybe think it's an opportunity to make a name for himself. I think now anybody who fights Gary Cully just thinks it's an opportunity to make a name for themselves as well. 

Felix did it and Felix built a bit of a career and got a couple of paydays off it. But, like I said, I've been performing in the gym these last six/eight weeks and been really enjoying my sparring, really getting back to full flow again and looking forward to getting in and showing it again.

PC: Mentally I can see it in your eyes, I can see it in the smile. Yeah, you're up for it?

GC: Yeah, with a bit of a chip on my shoulder as well. To be fair I've always been happy go lucky and I'm always this positive guy but the last fifteen months I've been a bit of a forgotten man in Irish boxing. 

There are obviously other Irish guys now headlining cards and I'm not up to top of the card. I want to be at that top level again so I’m coming in with a bit of a chip on my shoulder and wanting to prove myself again, wanting to prove all of my supporters and all of those people who followed me over the years, right and wanting to prove anybody who thinks that I'm finished, wrong.

PC: What about your Mam, Lorraine. She became famous during your previous fights?

GC: My mom's the best. She's coming to the fight on the 14th but she'll probably be in the changing rooms or out in the hallway saying Hail Marys. I was sparring here last week and she came in and I could actually feel her in there, in the gym. I'm her son and she doesn't like to see me get hit or she doesn't like to see me in the ring. She's great.

PC: You know your Manager/Coach Niall Barrett well. What has he got that produces boxers like yourself, Kelsey Leonard and Aodhán Byrne and others?

GC: He lives this game. He's just left the gym here and he's been here since maybe eight this morning. I can guarantee you know he's at home now watching my opponent or Kelsey’s next opponent or trying to make a fight or looking at sparring for myself for the end of the week. He's a great tactician. He's the one who initially instilled some belief in me as well and who started me on this journey. He taught me about strength and fitness and how important it was to be strong. And I've looked up to him as our role model for the last 20 years. Then there’s his boxing brain. I've been with him from nine years old but he's learned so much along the way too. Anything he says, maybe not in previous camps and he would probably be the first to say that I have not listened, I've really been listening and taking on board everything that he's been saying in this camp.

PC: Finally, then Gary, what can the supporters of the of the Diva look for on the 14 March?

GC: They can expect some more excitement again, Pat and just being in there with a bit of flair and enjoying my craft again, putting in good performances. I've always been strong. I've always been fit but just to put in the performances that got everybody talking at the start of my career and throughout my career up until maybe the Felix defeat. It's funny how quickly boxing can change. You take a loss and everybody's opinion changes pretty quickly. I'm here to prove myself again.