Maxi Hughes Attributes His Recent Success to Learning From Losses
British lightweight Maxi “Maximus” Hughes (26-5-2, 5 KOs) has been through some growing pains over the course of his career. Following a disappointing points decision loss to Liam Walsh in November 2019, his career was at a crossroads. He even thought about hanging up the gloves. However, the southpaw decided to give the sport one more go.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
That decision has proven to be beneficial. The 32-year-old from Yorkshire, England is currently at the most successful point in his career. Hughes is currently on a seven-fight winning streak.
In his last outing, he gathered arguably the best win to date when he gained a twelve-round majority decision win over ex-IBF featherweight champion “Kid” Galahad, in September 2022. During an interview with UK media outlet iFL TV, Maximus explained what is behind the current wave of success.
“Things have just clicked, and it’s like all of the experience that I’ve gained over the last ten years, it all started to work for me . . . didn’t let them losses bother me. I learned from them . . . All the times I lost, I’m glad I did because I have learned from it and I’ve gained from it and took that forward . . . Especially over this last two and a half years, I’ve used it to better myself in my career.”
Hughes went on to say personal maturity and the guidance of current trainer Sean O’Hagan has played a role. Currently ranked ninth by the IBF and twelfth by the WBC, Maximus is looking to take things to the next level in 2023. He has eyes on positioning himself to fight for a world title by the end of this year.
HIS MASTER PLAN
Hughes believes the path toward this goal would be a match against unbeaten Giovanni Cabrera, ranked eighth by the IBF at lightweight. According to Maximus, there have been early talks of the two facing each other.
Hughes feels that reigning undisputed champion Devin Haney will likely move up to junior welterweight following his upcoming fight against three-time champion Vasyl Lomachenko. That would leave the lightweight titles vacant. Should that scenario play out, Hughes sees himself Cabrera in an IBF eliminator, with the winner facing IBF number-one ranked Gustavo Lemos for the vacant IBF lightweight strap at the end of this year.
This is ambitious thinking on the part of Hughes. But at this point, you should not count him out. Perseverance took him out of the lowest depths of his career. He’s on a quest to ride this current wave as far as he can.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
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