Maxi Hughes Makes Kid Galahad The Biggest Win Of His Career!
In the lightweight division, former IBF featherweight champion Kid Galahad (28-3, 17KO) and veteran Maxi “Maximus” Hughes (26-5-2, 5KO) battled in a crossroad fight.
Hughes holds the lightly regarded IBO title and also found success on the domestic level by winning the BBBofC title. He once captured the WBC International minor title and is on a six-fight win streak. Ranked #12 by the IBF, the 32 year-old couldn’t afford a defeat at this point of his career.
Galahad captured the vacant IBF title by stopping James Dickens before suffering a devastating upset against Kiko Martinez in the first defense of the title in 2021. The former champion felt that a move to lightweight could provide a fresh start to his career.
A CHEST MATCH WITH NOT MUCH ACTION
In the early portion of the fight, both fighters started out looking to dictate the pace. Hughes fought well behind the jab and landed good left hands to the body. Galahad would switch from orthodox to a southpaw stance, trying to confuse Hughes. He found success by landing the jab and good counter hooks to the body.
The former champion started fighting more aggressively in the middle rounds by coming forward and letting his go and landing the cleaner sharper punches. Hughes fought in spurts as he was forced to fight off the back foot.
A POINT DEDUCTION PROVED TO BE COSTLY
In the closing rounds of the fight, Galahad was deducted a point in the tenth round for illegal use of his head. Furthermore, his punch output slowed down. Hughes took advantage of this by using his footwork and peppered his opponent with straight left hands. He fought at an up tempo pace and landed eye-catching one-two punch combinations before pivoting to the side to land crisp hooks to the body.
As the final bell sounded, one judge saw it even 114-114, the other two scored it 116-111 and 114-113 for Hughes. The point deduction was the difference between a victory and a majority draw. Hughes received the win of a lifetime, with a possible fight in the United States.
By: Garrisson Bland
