By Vince D’Writer: Former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr made his return to the ring as he was awarded a controversial majority decision victory over British lightweight Maxi Hughes (26-6-2, 5 KOs) on Saturday night at the FireLake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
(Courtesy: Mikey Williams/Top Rank)
The bout against Maxi Hughes marked the first time Kambosos competed inside the ring since losing in the rematch to Devin Haney nine months ago.
In the Saturday night Top Rank main event that aired on ESPN, Kambosos believes he won the fight, but Maxi Hughes and the court of public opinion think otherwise.
In the opening round of the bout, the southpaw Maxi Hughes started the contest by using his footwork and establishing the jab. His best punch of the round occurred when Kambosos rushed in, and Hughes landed a solid left hand shot to the body.
Kambosos experienced some good moments in the second round as he landed a few timely right hand shots. Hughes continued to use his footwork to set up his offense as his best punch of the third round happened at the 1:35 mark when he landed a solid uppercut.
Hughes had a big fifth round as he connected with a straight left that opened a cut on the right eye of Kambosos. Maxi Hughes would suffer a cut as well when a clash of heads occurred in the sixth round.
George Kambosos had his moments, but throughout the majority of the second half of the bout, Maxi Hughes continued to use his footwork, control distance, connect to the body, and land the straight left hand. Unfortunately for Hughes, at the end of the contest, Kambosos was awarded the majority decision victory by the scores of (114-114), (117-111), and (115-113).
Kambosos felt that Maxi Hughes was a cagey opponent, but in the end, he thought he was rightfully awarded the majority decision victory.
Hughes believes he won the fight as the crowd, fans on social media, and a highly ranked lightweight all agree that Hughes was the victim of a robbery.
Former two-weight world champion Shakur Stevenson was sitting ringside watching the fight. During an interview after the match, Stevenson verbalized his opinion in regards to Maxi Hughes getting robbed.
“I thought it was a robbery. I thought Maxi boxed well, and I thought he was the better fighter,” said Shakur.
Stevenson feels as though some judges are not paying attention, and those types of judges are messing up the sport of boxing. When asked about a potential clash with Kambosos, Shakur dismissed the idea claiming Kambosos isn’t on his level.
During his post-fight interview with the media, George Kambosos spoke about the 21st victory of his pro boxing career. As Kambosos continued to address members of the media, Shakur Stevenson would proceed to crash the post-fight interview session.
Stevenson voiced his opinion in regards to him believing that Maxi Hughes won the fight. Shakur wasn’t done with the delivery of his opinions, as he gave another opinion about what would happen if he and Kambosos faced each other inside the squared circle.
“I will stop him. I will stop him. You get in the ring with me, it would be bad.” Shakur went on to say, “As far as me, I feel as though you can’t f**k with me.”
George Kambosos (21-2, 10 KOs) is a solid lightweight contender, but as of now, he’s not on Shakur’s priority list. If Shakur Stevenson can’t get a bout with Devin Haney, Vasiliy Lomachenko, or Gervonta Davis, then he will be open to facing Kambosos.
“If they don’t fight me, we can make it happen, and I’m going to stop you,” Stevenson stated. “I promise you, I’m going to stop you. I’m going to stop you. I’m going to beat the sh*t out of you, bro.”
A clash with Shakur Stevenson may not be in the best interest of George Kambosos and his team. If they decided to sign on to face Stevenson, it would be a perfect example of a bad business decision.
In his last three fights, George Kambosos has shown weakness when it comes to fighters who can box and control the distance. Shakur Stevenson is a master when it comes to using his skill set and controlling the distance.
In his two fights with Devin Haney, George Kambosos got schooled over the course of 24 rounds. If he ever decided to step inside the ring to face Shakur Stevenson, class would definitely be in session.