DURING the week that followed the crushing first defeat of Gary Cully’s career, the Irishman woke up every morning believing his beating at the hands of Jose Felix was nothing but a nightmare.
“I went away with my misses on the Monday after the fight, we had planned a little trip away,” Cully explains to BoxingScene.com.
“We just went down the country for a couple of days. We had been to the same place after all the wins too but the difference in the feelings this time was like polar opposites. It was all a bit of a blur.
“I remember waking up every morning down there, two days on, three days on, sitting up in bed thinking ‘no you’re not dreaming – it happened’. I thought it was a nightmare but I’d wake up and realise ‘no this is f—— real’.”
What has followed since that trip has been a period of soul-searching for big-punching Cully who admits he might have got high on his own supply in the lead up to his showdown with Felix, which had landed on the undercard of Katie Taylor’s clash with Chantelle Cameron in Dublin.
“I’ve reflected a lot over the last couple of weeks,” he adds. “I got a couple of things wrong on the night, in the lead up, got a little bit too excited and probably overlooked Jose Felix a little bit. I went in there thinking it was my show and I was the superstar coming through.
“I thought ‘it’s my hometown, I’m just going to walk right through him’. I never really gave him any respect as to what was coming back but this guy had double the knockouts that I had fights. I kind of went in there and was a little bit high on my own power thinking I would just walk him down and get him out of there.
“But that’s not how boxing works. Those 8oz gloves on fight night are small and if you get hit clean with one of them you’re in trouble, especially against a Mexican with 30 KOs on his record.
“Look – it was a sh!t night for me. It was a sh!t night and a tough lesson to learn but I believe I’ve learned more from that loss from the 16 wins combined. I’ve got my head right to get back to fight preparation and now I’m in Liverpool I have a fresh start and I’ve shaken things up.”
The relocation of which Cully speaks has been a big one as he has decided to move away from Ireland for the first time in order to set up shop in Liverpool under the tutelage of trainer Joe McNally.
It was an amicable split with former coach Peter Taylor but for Cully a necessary one.
“I linked up with Pete Taylor down in the Coliseum in Dublin when I turned professional,” he says. “I built up a relationship and a bond with Pete, not just as a boxer-coach but as friends. I see him as family now so it was kind of hard to make that decision because I’m emotionally attached.
“But it was all very comfortable for me – I live 10 minutes from the gym in Dublin and 10 minutes from the gym in Naas. I got up in the morning and went about my day – they never changed. It got very comfortable.
“I never stopped working hard but probably my mind slipped into a bit of complacency and got a bit comfortable. So when I started thinking about moving away and going to a different gym it scared me a little bit so then I thought ‘well what if you don’t do it now because you’re scared?’
“In my old gym I was the superstar, I was the top dog and a big fish in a small pond in Naas and sometimes you outgrow your environment and you need to be in gyms where there are more experienced people who have done things I haven’t done or that I want to do.
“Even just being on the treadmill alongside Callum [Smith] doing our sprints. He’s got a huge fight coming against Beterbiev and then seeing [Liam] Beefy [Smith] training for the Eubank rematch. These guys have been there and done it so it gives me something to look up to. I’m the small fish now and I have to prove myself. Feels like I’m starting fresh which is exciting for me.”
Now Cully, who is currently living out of a suitcase in a Liverpool hotel as he searches for something a little more permanent, has a long run at his comeback, which is scheduled for Taylor’s November rematch with Cameron back at the 3Arena again.
“It’s still 17-18 weeks away so I’ve got plenty of time to settle into the new gym and gel with Joe,” he adds.
“I’m in a blessed position because usually if you get a homecoming and fluff it like I did against Felix you don’t usually get a second chance.
“But I’m blessed that I’m straight back in to where I was, get rid of those demons, get back to winning ways and right back up there again.
“It has hurt my pride and my ego but as far as my career goes, I don’t believe it will put me back too much.
“And Felix. I want another crack at him one day – I won’t sleep well until I put that right.”