Gary Cully won the World Boxing Association (WBA) Continental lightweight belt with a unanimous decision victory over Francesco Patera on Saturday at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, UK. 

Cully prevailed in a tough fight in which the judges gave scorecards of 98-92, 96-94 and 96-94 to decide fight  in his favour against an opponent who gave nothing away in the ring. 

Cully has been on the rebound since his loss to Jose Felix in May last year and has two wins in a row since then. In November he came back to beat Reece Mould by split decision in a big fight and now he defeated Patera to stay on the winning track. 

The 28-year-old Irishman is now on 18 wins, while he has lost 1 fight and knocked out 10 opponents. In Patera’s case, he now has a record of 29 wins, 5 losses and 11 knockouts.