Gary Cully outclassed in Monte Carlo, first career loss for Stevie McKenna

Gary Cully saw his career suffer a significant setback after a comprehensive defeat to England's Maxi Hughes on Saturday night in Monaco.

The Kildare boxer was unable to get into a rhythm in the fight and took considerable punishment from Hughes throughout the 10 rounds.

Cully sustained a deep cut over his right eye to further hinder the chances and didn’t trouble his opponent.

The three judges scored the bout 100-90, meaning Cully failed to win a round on every scorecard.

It’s a second loss in four bouts for Cully (18-2-0) after being stopped by Jose Felix in Dublin in May last year.

The WBA lightweight number five - who also lost his continental belt - now faces an uphill task to get to world level, with Hughes (28-2-2) set to move closer to a title bout.

A bad night for Irish boxing continued as Monaghan’s Stephen McKenna tasted defeat for the first time in his career, against another English opponent, Lee Cutler, in their WBC International super-welterweight contest.

McKenna hit the canvas twice over the 10 rounds as he lost by majority decision, 94-94, 95-93 and 96-92 at Exhibition Centre Liverpool.

The away fighter had a record of 15-0 with 14 KOs going into the fight though it had been anticipated Cutler would provide the toughest test of his career so far.

"It was a very close fight," McKenna told Sky Sports afterwards.

"I thought I won it. It could have gone either way. I just have to take it on the chin. I trained very hard for this fight, I have no excuses. Maybe we can do the rematch in the future and maybe in Ireland."

Meanwhile one of the biggest all-Irish clash of recent times was confirmed yesterday with Belfast’s Lewis Crocker (20-0, 11 KOs) and Limerick's Paddy Donovan (14-0, 11 KOs) set to meet in the SSE Arena