Neary made his professional debut on 3 September 1992, defeating fellow debutant Simon Ford by
knockout in the first round. On 8 September 1995, Neary won his first regional championship—the vacant
British Central Area title—by knocking out Nigel Bradley in two rounds. Three fights later, on 26 October 1996, Neary scored a twelve-round
unanimous decision over
Darryl Tyson to win the vacant
WBU light-welterweight title. He made five successful defences of the title, all televised nationally on
ITV's
The Big Fight Live. On 11 March 2000, Neary fought
Micky Ward as part of the undercard to
Naseem Hamed vs.
Vuyani Bungu. This brought Neary international exposure for the first time, as the event was televised in the United States by
HBO on their
World Championship Boxing series. In a high-paced, action-packed slugfest, Ward handed Neary his first loss by stopping him in the eighth round. The fight was dramatised in the 2010 film
The Fighter, with Anthony Molinari playing the part of Neary. Neary won one more fight on 25 July 2000, scoring a ten-round
points decision over
Alan Bosworth. However, Neary had struggled to make weight before the fight, and was quoted as having lacked motivation coming in. On 11 November 2000, in what would be Neary's final fight, he lost via points decision to then-reigning
Commonwealth light-welterweight champion
Eamonn Magee. The result, judged by referee Roy Francis, was viewed as controversial. ==Personal life==