Christmas in July: George Kambosos gifted win over Maxi Hughes
A IBO title eliminator, George Kambosos was gifted a majority decision with the scorecard (114-114, 117-111, 115-113) handing him a win over Maxi Hughes in a fight that many thought Hughes won. The fight went down at the Firelake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma live on ESPN+.
George Kambosos Jr. vs. Maxi Hughes Recap
In a rather run of the mill fight, Kambosos and Hughes put on a decent scrap in Oklahoma. The early stages of the fight saw both Kambosos and Hughes feel each other out. Kambosos came out more reserved than he has in other fights and allowed Hughes, the southpaw, to figure the distance out and get a read on Kambosos’ speed.
In the fifth round, Maxi Hughes landed a left and rocked George Kambosos in the latter half of the round. Hughes was in full control and was finding his angles and fighting well off the back foot and consistently worked the body.
As the fight went on, Hughes piled up shots to the body, keeping Kambosos honest. But in the back quarter of the fight, George Kambosos started to open up on Hughes, landing a lot of his shots coming from the double right hand across.
But Hughes started to reel things in and started to coast in the last three rounds. The fight went off without many fireworks to the end and the two lightweights cruised to a decision.
The scorecards caught many off guard with a decision being handed to George Kambosos, who was the aggressor the entire fight. At the end of the day, Kambosos was handed a present from the judges and Hughes received the short straw and will not have a shot at the IBF title should Devin Haney vacate as rumored.
Elsewhere on the card, Keyshawn Davis outclassed Francesco Panera with a knockdown in the eighth round and win via unanimous decision. Troy Isley also defeated Antonio Todd via unanimous decision.
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Blaine Henry, the author, covers boxing, MMA, wrestling and more. Subscribe to his newsletter and follow him on Twitter!
