Maxi Hughes reveals that a heart to heart with another British boxer convinced him to continue
Lightweight contender Maxi Hughes (26-6-2, 5 KOs) takes on unbeaten Mexican William Zepeda this Saturday at the Chelsea Ballroom, Las Vegas, live on DAZN.
The 34-year-old fan favourite reignited his career following a devastating unanimous decision defeat to Liam Walsh back in 2019.
Maxi attests that, had it not been for a long conversation with his stablemate, Josh Warrington, his turbulent journey in boxing would have ended there and then.
Speaking with ESPN, Hughes said: “Josh was driving me back from London, my trainer Sean O’Hagan was asleep.
“But I was saying how I thought I wasn’t good enough to win the British title. I thought I was done with boxing. But that talk cleared my head.
“By the end of the journey, I had sorted my head out.
“I’ve always had the ability, but I used to be better in the gym away from the pressure and bright lights of the arena.
“I couldn’t take what I did in the gym into the fight. I just crumbled under pressure.”
After falling short twice before down at super featherweight, Hughes finally fulfilled his dream of becoming a British champion, stopping Paul Hyland Jnr in the eighth round of their lightweight clash back in 2021.
Since then, he has moved on to even bigger and better things as, after outpointing Jovanni Straffon in a one-sided contest, he picked up the IBO strap, defending it twice against two domestic rivals.
Last time out, he lost narrowly to former undisputed champion George Kambosos Jr, in a fight that many believe Hughes did more than enough to win.
Now, Maxi looks to throw his name back into the mix, as a win over Zepeda would give him a strong claim to challenge for world honours at 135 lbs.