Shawnee, OK - Maxi Hughes (26-6-2, 5 KOs) saw his seven fight win streak come to an end on Saturday night - and he disagrees with the scoring of the contest.
In an IBF lightweight eliminator, with the IBO title at stake, George Kambosos (21-2, 10 KOs) struggled to win a twelve round majority decision over Hughes.
The scores were 114-114, 117-111 and 115-113.
Kambosos, in his Top Rank debut, was coming off back to back defeats to current undisputed lightweight world champion Devin Haney.
There were many observers who felt Hughes, the clear underdog, had done enough to win a decision. The ESPN broadcast team had scored the fight in favor of the British boxer.
Hughes was shocked when the official scorecards were read.
“It was a bit of a kick in the b-llocks if I'm honest. Now I feel a bit stupid stood here in a cowboy hat. I’m absolutely devastated. Nobody thought I was supposed to be in George’s league. Tonight, I came and I showed that I should have had my hand raised. I don’t want to take George’s moment," Hughes said.
“I used my footwork. I made him miss and pay. I landed the cleaner shots. I don’t want to sound like a sore loser, and I will watch it and assess it, but everyone here now knows who Maxi Hughes is.”
Kambosos was having a lot of trouble with the southpaw style of Hughes in the first half of the fight. In the fifth, Hughes had a big round, and landed a solid punch that opened up a cut above the right eye of Kambosos. A clash of heads in the sixth would open up a cut on Hughes.
Kambosos was starting to rally during the seventh and eighth, with his left hand. Hughes was still making things tough with his style and counter-punching ability. The tenth was close, with Kambosos starting to find his range and then Hughes closed well with his counters.
In the eleventh and twelfth, it was close action with neither guy having a big advantage but Kambosos was having his fair share of issues in finding answers for Hughes' style. For most of the final round, neither fighter threw nor landed much of anything until the final thirty seconds when they began to unload their shots.
