Maxi Hughes

Daniel "Maxi" Hughes (born 4 March 1990)

After compiling a record of 8–0–1 (0 KOs), he faced Scott Cardle for the vacant Central Area lightweight title on 20 April 2013 at Winter Gardens, Blackpool. In his first championship fight Hughes suffered the first defeat of his career, losing via PTS.^[7]

After four victories, Hughes was originally scheduled to face

After three victories in non-title fights, Hughes and Ward–now the British super-featherweight champion–fought for a third time on 25 March 2017 at the Manchester Arena. Hughes suffered the third defeat of his career, losing via twelve-round unanimous decision (UD) with the judges' scorecards reading 118–111, 116–113 and 116–112.^[12]

In his next fight he defeated Ryan Moorhead via PTS, capturing the vacant Central Area super-featherweight title on 2 September 2017 at the Doncaster Dome.^[13]

Following a

Three fights later he fought undefeated prospect Viktor Kotochigov for the WBC International lightweight title on 9 October 2020 at the Caesars Palace in Dubai. In what media outlets described as an "upset", Hughes scored a knockdown in the third-round en route to a UD victory with the judges' scorecards reading 97–92, 96–93 and 95–94.^[18][19][20]

In his next fight he faced Paul Hyland Jr for the vacant British lightweight title on 19 March 2021 at the Whites Hotel in Bolton. In what was considered by media outlets as a "controversial" decision, Hughes emerged victorious via eighth-round TKO. Hughes landed a punch to the body of Hyland, causing him to bend over in pain. After referee Mark Lyson initially ordered Hughes to a neutral corner, believing Hyland had touched the floor, Hyland turned his back and walked to the opposite corner. Lyson then corrected his mistake and signalled Hughes to resume the action, at which point, he ran across the ring and landed a right hand on Hyland with his back still turned. Hyland fell to the floor, prompting Lyson to begin a ten count. He made it back to his feet by the count of nine only for Lyson to call a halt to the contest, awarding Hughes the British title in his third attempt.^{[21][22][23][24]}

Following his British title victory, Hughes made his first attempt at a world championship; facing Jovanni Straffon for the lightly-regarded IBO lightweight title on 4 September at the Headingley Rugby Stadium in Leeds. Serving as part of the undercard for Josh Warrington vs. Mauricio Lara, Hughes won a wide UD with two judges scoring the bout 120–117 while the third scored it 119–109.^[25]

On March 16, 2024 in Las Vegas, Hughes was stopped by William Zepeda in four rounds.^[26][27]

Professional boxing record

References

External links

• Boxing record for Maxi Hughes from BoxRec (registration required)