Maxi Hughes Gets Dominant Victory Over Jovanni Straffon
In his latest in ring battle, British lightweight Maxi “Maximus” Hughes (24-5-2, 5 KO’s) claimed his fifth victory since losing to Liam Walsh back on November 9, 2019. He earned this win by unanimous decision over Jovanni “Impacto” Straffon (24-4-1, 17 KO’s). With the win, he strong-armed Straffon for his IBO lightweight title. The bout stood as the first would be defense of the title that Impacto won in his bout with James Tennyson on May 1.
While holding the IBO title, Straffon managed to be ranked as high as #8 by the WBA and #14 by the IBF at lightweight. Meanwhile, Hughes is holding down the fourteenth position with the WBA.
ONE SIDED DOMINATION
The first few rounds of the bout were greatly colored by Hughes’ jab which he used to keep Straffon at bay. Maximus was able to casually box and control the action with the effective stick. During the third round, Straffon was able to find a bit a success getting in close and working the body. Yet, despite not being known for his power, Hughes managed to badly damage Impacto with a hard left hook in the fifth round. The debilitating blow reduced the Mexican’s legs to mush as he swayed and stumbled around the ring.
Credit should be given to the champion for surviving. When the shot landed there was roughly two minutes to go. Even though he was hammered throughout those two minutes, he made it to the bell. While he was not in the same imminent danger, Straffon was roughed up throughout the sixth period as well. By the end of the seventh, he clearly was no longer in the same immediate peril, although it made little difference.
Hughes was putting on a boxing clinic by blasting Impacto with his reliable jab, consistently digging to the body and twisting Straffon’s head with thudding hooks. Maximus’ footwork was also a huge part of his success. He used swift footwork to regularly cause his opponent to miss shots by a country mile.
Unsurprisingly, when the scorecards were read, Hughes was awarded a unanimous decision. Yet as a bit of insult to injury, the former champion was only given credit for winning a single round by one judge as the scorecards read 120-107 twice and 119-109. The win not only grants Hughes a minor title, but should catapult him higher in the WBA rankings at the very least.
By: Bakari Simpson
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