Gary Cully beats Francesco Patera to win WBA Continental Lightweight Title on Josh Taylor v Jack Catterall card

Cully was having his first fight since returning to winning ways with a split-decision win over Reece Mould on the Katie Taylor v Chantelle Cameron 2 card last November

Gary Cully defeated Francesco Patera via unanimous decision on Saturday to claim the WBA Continental Lightweight Title in Leeds.

Fighting on the Josh Taylor v Jack Catterall 2 card, 'The Diva' warmed to the task against an aggressive Patera in the ten-round contest at the First Direct Arena. The victory takes the Kildare man's record to 18-1.

Cully was having his first fight since returning to winning ways with a split-decision win over Reece Mould on the Katie Taylor v Chantelle Cameron 2 card last November six months after suffering his first defeat as a professional to Jose Felix in Dublin.

READ MORE: Josh Taylor v Jack Catterall LIVE stream information, time and updates as Gary Cully wins on card

Fighting under Niall Barrett for this fight having prepared for it at home in Naas after working with Joe McNally in Liverpool for his last bout, Cully used his reach well at times and landed some lovely combinations as the contest went on, with the three judges scoring the bout 98-92, 96-94 and 96-94 in his favour.

Patera threw plenty of punches early in the fight, but Cully began to take control as it went on, with the Belgian slowing down in the later rounds before finishing the fight with a late flurry of shots.

The 28-year-old Irishman burst Patera open late on and the now 29-5 fighter finished the contest bloodied.

Eddie Hearn said the pressure was still on Cully ahead of the fight following that defeat last year, but the Naas native fought calmly throughout and can now look forward to bigger challenges ahead.

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