Welsh Area super-lightweight champion Gething disappointed at pulling out of fight
26-year-old Kieran Gething (9-2-2, 2KOs) was due to face unbeaten Gary Cully (10-0, 5KOs) on August 26 on an MTK Fight Night show in Leeds, but has frustratingly been forced to withdraw due to an ongoing elbow injury.
The fight was due to be a clash of national champions with Gething holding the Welsh Area super-lightweight title since June 2016 and southpaw Cully crowned Irish lightweight champion in February this year with a scintillating first-round stoppage of 10-0 Joe Fitzpatrick in Belfast.
Cully will now face another Welshman in Craig Woodruff (10-5, 4KOs) instead, the same man that Gething defeated on points to win his Welsh Area title.
“My next fight on August 26 against Gary Cully is now off,” Gething explained dismally. “I’m very disappointed to say that I have had to withdraw due to an ongoing injury.
“The decision has been in development for a couple of weeks, as my left elbow has been progressively worse. It’s been going on for years, on and off for the vast majority of my career, and it has become really bad since last year.
“I had six to eight weeks rest before this latest training camp and I started slowly to be safe, but then during sparring sessions, it’s been giving me problems.”
During his latest camp for the unbeaten Irish southpaw talent, Gething travelled to Bromley, Kent, to spend a week at Alan Smith’s thriving iBox Gym where he got to spar with the likes of Pierce O’Leary (4-0, 1KO) among others.
The Pontypool puncher also spent time and money on the road to visit Jamie Moore’s Manchester gym to spar with WBO No.1 lightweight Jack ‘El Gato’ Catterall.
“It’s cost me well over a grand for this camp, plus my medical fees were all due at the same time which came to over £500, and if it goes to an operation then we could be talking about thousands more. I’ve spent the best part of two months preparing for this fight.
“I’m not handling it very well, to be honest, although I try and keep my mind in boxing by looking at other aspects, so I’ll try recruit new sponsors to the team, just to keep my head in the sport and to continually move my career forwards.
“I’m still fit and healthy which is the main thing, but I won’t be punching at all for the foreseeable, but I can do some conditioning sessions still, working on strength and speed, but anything to do with the upper body will be out of the window for now.
“So, it’s hugely frustrating, but as ironic as it sounds, you’ve just got to roll with the punches. I always like to look ahead positively, so I’ll be looking at six months down the line to future plans, just always finding the positive side of things. Boxing is a sport that is very up and down and these things happen.”
Gething’s optimistic outlook means that he is already plotting his route back to the ring, “Looking ahead, I want a good stylish win for my next fight to tick a few boxes, testing everything out to make sure it all works ok, then I’ll look forward to the next phone call for a big fight. When I’m visualising these things, it makes me feel a whole lot happier.
“I’ve got an MRI scan next Wednesday, then the consultant’s appointment on the 22nd, then I’ll have a clearer idea on whether it’s an operation or rehabilitation.”
To follow Kieran Gething on Twitter, click here @KiwiGething
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